Find Answers with Mayo Clinic Pineal Brain Tumor Experts
Pineal brain tumors are a rare type of tumor, true pineal cell tumors include pineocytoma, pineoblastoma and mixed pineal tumors. Mayo Clinic doctors have the experience and knowledge to make an accurate diagnoses and tailor a care plan designed just for you. Let us be on your pineal brain tumor care team and get you to appropriate treatments from the start. We know that getting answers quickly is important, so appointments are available within 48 hours of your phone call.
Our team-based approach.
Experts across Mayo Clinic come together to become part of your care team, and put together the best course of action. This means that you're not getting just one opinion—you benefit from the knowledge and experience of each and every specialist on your team. Treatment usually involves surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible. And depending on your individual case, additional treatments may also be recommended.
This image displays the radiology scanned imaging from a 3 Tesla MRI. The 3 Tesla MRI, while using a less powerful magnetic field compared to the 7 Tesla MRI, still provides clear and detailed images of the body's interior. It is commonly used in clinical settings to diagnose and monitor various medical conditions, offering valuable insights for patient care and treatment planning. However, the clarity of the images produced by the 3 Tesla MRI is not as high as that of the 7 Tesla MRI, which can impact the level of detail visible in the scans.
Mayo Clinic uses 7-Tesla MRI. This imaging system uses a stronger magnetic field to produce more detailed images of the body's interior. Detailed brain scans help Mayo Clinic care teams diagnose and treat patients diagnosed with brain tumors. This advanced imaging technology is key to ensuring patients receive an accurate diagnosis to guide treatment.
Rare is more common here.
Mayo Clinic experts treat more than 7,000 adults and children with brain and central nervous system cancers each year. With expertise in surgery and noninvasive treatments as well as watchful waiting, the team at Mayo Clinic provides people the widest range of treatment options available.
Treatment
Astrocytoma treatments include:
- Surgery to remove the astrocytoma. A brain surgeon, also called a neurosurgeon, works to remove as much of the astrocytoma as possible. The goal is to remove all of the tumor. Sometimes the tumor is in a spot that is hard to reach. It may be too risky to remove it all. Even so, removing some of the astrocytoma may lessen your symptoms.
For some people, surgery may be the only treatment needed. For others, more treatments may be recommended to kill any remaining tumor cells and lower the risk of the tumor coming back.
- Radiation therapy. Radiation therapy uses powerful energy beams to kill tumor cells. The energy can come from X-rays, protons and other sources. During radiation therapy, you lie on a table while a machine moves around you. The machine sends beams to exact points in your brain. The treatment only takes a few minutes.
Radiation therapy might be used after surgery. It can be used if the cancer wasn't removed completely or if there's a higher risk the cancer will return. Radiation may be used with chemotherapy for cancers that grow quickly. For people who can't have surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy may be used as the main treatment.
- Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses strong medicines to kill tumor cells. Chemotherapy medicines can be taken in pill form or injected into a vein. Sometimes, a circular wafer of chemotherapy medicine can be put in your brain after surgery. There, it slowly dissolves and releases the medicine.
Chemotherapy is often used after surgery to kill any tumor cells that might remain. It can be used with radiation therapy for tumors that grow quickly.
- Clinical trials. Clinical trials are studies of new treatments. These studies offer a chance to try the latest treatment options. The risk of side effects may not be known. Ask a member of your healthcare team whether you can participate in a clinical trial.
- Supportive care. Supportive care, also called palliative care, focuses on providing relief from pain and other symptoms of a serious illness. Palliative care specialists work with you, your family and your other healthcare team members to provide extra support. Palliative care can be used at the same time as other treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Often, palliative care begins as you start your astrocytoma treatments. You may not need to wait for complications to happen in order to receive palliative care.
Nationally recognized for expertise.
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota is ranked #1 for Neurology and Neurosurgery in the Midwest by U.S. News and World Report.
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota is ranked #1 for Neurology care by Newsweek’s World’s Best Specialized Hospitals 2025 list.
In recognition of our scientific leadership in cancer care and research, Mayo Clinic was one of the first National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers and is the only such center with three unique locations today. Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center meets the strict standards for scientific excellence and a multispecialty approach focused on cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. One of the National Cancer Institute’s first designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Proudly recognized for our scientific leadership and resources.
While U.S. News only reports national specialty rankings and doesn't rank specialties at the regional or state level, Mayo Clinic evaluates whether a hospital outperforms others in its region or state based on national rankings.
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