A tectal glioma is a low-grade, slow-growing brain tumor in the tectum, the roof of the brain stem. The brain stem controls vital body functions such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.
Despite their origin in a critical part of the body, tectal gliomas have a very high cure rate, and the long-term prognosis is usually excellent. Most children with tectal gliomas develop these brain tumors between the ages of 3 and 16. Tectal gliomas tend to develop spontaneously, which means that there is no known environmental or genetic factor that doctors suspect could have caused the tumor to grow.
Low-grade gliomas are a family of brain tumors that are typically non-malignant and rarely aggressive. The tumors originate in glial cells, which support and nourish neurons in the brain.
