Symptoms of Childhood Central Nervous System Tumors

Executive Summary

Children with a Central Nervous System tumor (CNS tumor) are diagnosed based on signs and symptoms. The symptoms and signs of Central Nervous System tumors can affect any brain’s functions and depend on where the tumor is located. Some of the common symptoms of (CNS) tumor in children include headache, delay in development, loss of a development milestone, or a decline in usual academic learning level at school, unexplained, persistent nausea and projectile vomiting, weakness or clumsiness, new vision problems, irritability, listlessness, or personality changes, back pain, early or delayed puberty, abnormal growth, seizure and repetitive movements. The symptom in infants involves the rapid growth of the head as their skull expands, increasing the risk of (CNS) tumor.

Signs and Symptoms of Childhood-Central Nervous System Tumors

Children with a Central Nervous System tumor may experience symptoms or signs. Sometimes, children with CNS tumors do not show these signs and symptoms. Or, the reason behind any of these symptoms may be a different medical condition that is not a tumor.

The symptoms and Signs of Central Nervous System tumors can affect any brain’s functions and depend on where the tumor is located. A (CNS) tumor may cause the mentioned symptoms and signs ^​1​:

• Headache that can wake a child up at night or develop early in the morning
• Delay in development, loss of a development milestone, or a decline in usual academic learning level at school
• Unexplained, persistent nausea and projectile vomiting
• Weakness or clumsiness that is new, like sudden difficulty walking and balancing, seems to get worse
• New vision problems
• Irritability, listlessness, or changes in personality
• Pain, especially back pain
• Early or delayed puberty
• Delayed or abnormal growth
• A seizure or convulsion that are a sudden involuntary movement of a person’s muscles
• Staring or repetitive, automatic actions, like a neck tilt or squint

The only symptom that may be observed in a baby is that the head is growing too fast because an infant’s skull can expand to make room for a growing Central Nervous System tumor so that the baby may have a larger than expected head ^​2​.

If you are concerned about any changes your child experiences, please talk with your child’s doctor. Your doctor will ask how long and how often your child has been experiencing the symptoms. It helps find out the cause of the problem, called a diagnosis.

If Central Nervous System tumor is diagnosed, relieving symptoms remains essential for care and treatment. 

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