Your Treatment

Treatment

Treatment depends on a number of factors, including the type, location, size, and grade of the tumor. For some types of brain cancer, the doctor also needs to know whether cancer cells were found in the cerebrospinal fluid.

People with brain tumors have several treatment options. Depending on the tumor type and stage, brain tumors may be treated with:

• Surgery
• Radiosurgery (Gamma Knife)
• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy
• A combination of treatments

In addition, at any stage of disease, patients may have treatment to control pain and other symptoms of the cancer, to relieve the side effects of therapy, and to ease emotional problems. This kind of treatment is called symptom management, supportive care, or palliative care.

See Roswell Park’s website for more information on different treatment options: http://www.roswellpark.org/document_4466.html  

Surgery

Surgery is a common initial treatment for brain tumors. Surgery to open the skull is called a craniotomy. 

Sometimes surgery is not possible. If the tumor is in the brain stem or certain other areas, the surgeon may not be able to remove the tumor without damaging normal brain tissue. Patients who cannot have surgery may receive radiation or other treatment.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy, the use of drugs to kill cancer cells, is sometimes used to treat brain tumors. Chemotherapy may be taken by pill (oral), or it may be put into the body by a tube into a vein (intravenously).   The side effects of chemotherapy depend mainly on the drugs that are used. The most common side effects include fatigue, constipation, decreased appetite, nausea, and lowered blood count.

Radiation Therapy

External radiation therapy uses a machine called a linear accelerator to deliver a dose of high-energy x-ray to the region of the tumor. These x-rays can destroy the cancer cells, while sparing the surrounding normal tissue.

External beam therapy is painless. You will not see or feel the actual treatment. Most people are treated on an outpatient basis, coming from and returning home after each treatment. Most can continue with their normal daily activities.

Gamma Knife Radiosurgery

Gamma knife radiosurgery allows doctors to identify abnormal areas in the brain with pinpoint accuracy, making it possible to treat many disorders affecting the brain without ever opening the skull.

Despite its name, gamma knife surgery does not require an incision. Instead, the gamma knife is a device that precisely delivers radiation to a target. All the beams are aimed at the target, but each one originates from a different location outside the skull.

Each individual radiation beam is too weak to harm the brain tissue it passes through. The damage occurs only at the spot in the brain where all the beams meet. With the help of a computer, this spot can be accurately plotted to within a fraction of a millimeter.

For questions and answers about Gamma Knife at Roswell Park, go to the Roswell Park Website page:

http://www.roswellpark.org/document_119.html