Treatment for Brain Tumors

 Your doctor will collaborate with other medical professionals to create a treatment strategy for you if you have a brain tumor. Surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and other therapies might be included in the strategy.

Your tumor's size, location, and grade determine the treatment you receive. Additionally, your general health is considered.

Surgery is performed to treat brain tumors, carefully removing the most amount of the tumor while sparing the surrounding brain tissue. To uncover the tumor during surgery, your doctor will shave a portion of your head and remove a flap of bone.

Smaller tumors can also be treated by your surgeon using laser thermal ablation. This more recent method treats some tiny cancers that are challenging to access during open surgery.

Your doctor may occasionally advise getting a second surgical procedure to remove a portion of the tumor. Subtotal resection is what this is, and it can help you feel better.

After surgery, you might need to stay in the hospital for a few days. You might require painkillers and antibiotics to keep your body free from infection. If you have any questions concerning the procedure, ask your doctor, the anesthesiologist, and the nurses.

Those who cannot surgically remove their brain tumors might choose radiation treatment. It destroys cancer cells using laser beams while protecting healthy brain tissue.

A tumor's growth can also be slowed or stopped with this method. It can be administered both before and after chemotherapy.

The radiation beam is produced using the doctor's linear accelerator device. The beam size is adjusted by specific computer software to target the tumor while avoiding healthy tissue.

After that, the radiation is given using form-fitting support or mask, keeping you steady and ensuring the beam always hits the same spot.

Stereotactic radiosurgery, often known as SRS, is another radiation therapy that uses high-energy rays to target the tumor with a highly specific amount of radiation. SRS is frequently carried out in only one session.

Cancer cells can be effectively eliminated with radiation treatment. However, it can also harm healthy tissue, which can cause serious side effects like headaches and seizures.

Drugs are used in chemotherapy to target cancer cells in the circulation primarily. It could be used following surgery or if your brain tumor recurs after treatment.

Temozolomide is one type of chemotherapy medicine used to treat brain tumors, as is the procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine (PCV) chemical cocktail. The kind and stage of your tumor and other health conditions determine the dosage of the medication.

Every time you receive therapy, a tiny needle or catheter can be used to administer the medications into a vein in your arm. You must let your doctor know if you have any adverse effects during treatment, such as discomfort or fever.

Additionally, chemotherapy can harm healthy cells, particularly those that line the mouth and intestines and those responsible for hair growth. Although they might be severe or protracted, these side effects typically subside or disappear once chemotherapy is stopped.

Palliative care is a type of treatment intended to assist you in controlling the signs and symptoms of your brain tumor. Additionally, it can support you and your loved ones as you deal with the emotional effects of your illness, such as depression or anxiety.

It can be difficult for patients and their families to deal with a serious disease, especially if they have young children or have had a brain tumor for a long period. Speak with your GP or the palliative care team when you suspect you might require help.

Patients with brain cancer frequently have a poor prognosis and succumb soon after diagnosis3,4–7; nevertheless, they can receive medical treatment at home or in a hospice, which offers much comfort. These individuals encounter special difficulties that may be made more difficult by underlying malignancy or brain metastases.