Two techniques are practiced to confirm a suspected diagnosis of astrocytoma:
The accuracy of any method is reduced by the variation in malignancy in any one lesion. The highest grade obtained in the sample is used to classify the lesion.
Diagnostic biopsy followed by radiotherapy is often the treatment of choice in the elderly and those with marked disability, e.g. severe dysphasia. It is also used to treat hypothalamic astrocytomas which are inaccessible.
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