Anaplastic Astrocytomas | Symptoms & Causes
What are the symptoms of anaplastic astrocytoma?
Symptoms depend on the type of white blood cell disorder a child has. Common symptoms when white blood cells are too few or don’t function properly include:
- frequent infections, most often in the lungs, ears or sinuses
- skin abscesses
- mouth sores
- invasive fungal infections
- severe tooth and gum (periodontal) disease
Certain conditions can have unique symptoms, such as:
- delayed wound healing in leukocyte adhesion deficiency
- chronic, sometimes greasy diarrhea in Shwachman-Diamond syndrome
What causes anaplastic astrocytoma?
Most anaplastic astrocytomas and high-grade gliomas occur sporadically or without identifiable cause. They do, however, occur with increased frequency in families with the following conditions.
- neurofibromatosis type I
- Li-Fraumeni syndrome
- hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer
- tuberous sclerosis
Anaplastic astrocytomas have also been associated with exposure to vinyl chloride and to high doses of radiation therapy to the brain.
