During radiation therapy, you lie on a table while a machine moves around you, directing beams to precise points in your brain. Radiation therapy is usually recommended after surgery and may be combined with chemotherapy. For people who can't undergo surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy may be used as a primary treatment. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. In some cases, thin, circular wafers containing chemotherapy medicine may be placed in your brain during surgery.
The wafers dissolve slowly, releasing the medicine and killing cancer cells. After surgery, the chemotherapy drug temozolomide Temodar — taken as a pill — is often used during and after radiation therapy. Other types of chemotherapy may be recommended if your glioblastoma recurs. These other types of chemotherapy are often administered through a vein in your arm. Tumor treating fields TTF therapy. TTF uses an electrical field to disrupt the tumor cells' ability to multiply.
TTF involves applying adhesive pads to your scalp. The pads are connected to a portable device that generates the electrical field. Targeted drug therapy. Targeted drugs focus on specific abnormalities in cancer cells that allow them to grow and thrive. The drugs attack those abnormalities, causing the cancer cells to die. Bevacizumab Avastin targets the signals that glioblastoma cells send to the body that cause new blood vessels to form and deliver blood and nutrients to cancer cells.
Bevacizumab may be an option if your glioblastoma recurs or doesn't respond to other treatments. There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Sign up for free and receive the latest on brain tumor treatment, diagnosis and surgery.
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Astrocytomas , which are the most common CNS tumor, arise anywhere in the brain or spinal cord , and develop from small, star-shaped cells called astrocytes.
In adults, astrocytomas most often occur in the cerebrum, the largest part of the brain. The cerebrum also controls speech, movement and emotions, as well as reading, thinking and learning. Brain stem gliomas are a type of astrocytoma that forms in the brain stem, which controls many vital functions, such as body temperature, blood pressure, breathing, hunger and thirst. The brain stem also transmits all the signals to the body from the brain. The brain stem is in the lowest part of the brain and connects the brain and spinal cord.
Tumors in this area can be difficult to treat. Most brain stem gliomas are high-grade astrocytomas. Glioblastoma multiforme , also known as glioblastoma, GBM or grade 4 astrocytoma, is a fast-growing, aggressive type of CNS tumor that forms on the supportive tissue of the brain. Glioblastoma is the most common grade 4 brain cancer. Glioblastomas may appear in any lobe of the brain, but they develop more commonly in the frontal and temporal lobes.
Glioblastomas usually affect adults. Meningioma develop in the cells of the membrane that surround the brain and spinal cord. Meningiomas also called meningeal tumors account for approximately 15 percent of all intracranial tumors. Most of these tumors are benign non-cancerous and slow-growing. Meningiomas are typically removed with surgery. Some meningiomas may not need immediate treatment and may remain undetected for years. Most meningiomas are diagnosed in women between 30 and 50 years old.
Aside from astrocytomas, there are a number of different primary brain tumors and other nervous system tumors that form from glial cells.
They include:. Pituitary tumors are lumps that form in the pituitary, a small gland about the size of a pea that sits inside the skull, just below the brain and above the nasal passages. The pituitary gland produces hormones that control the levels of other hormones secreted by endocrine glands throughout the body, giving it an important role in controlling key body functions and the hormonal system.
The pituitary gland is made up of four parts: the anterior front lobe and posterior back lobe, which function independently of each other, as well as the intermediate area between the two lobes and the stalk that connects the pituitary to the interbrain which includes the thalamus, hypothalamus and epithalamus. A number of gene changes have been found in different brain tumor types, but there are probably many others that have not yet been found.
Some gene changes might be inherited, but most brain and spinal cord tumors are not the result of known inherited syndromes. Other than radiation , no known lifestyle-related or environmental factors are clearly linked to brain tumors.
Most gene changes are probably just random events that sometimes happen inside a cell, without having an outside cause. Some genes control when our cells grow, divide into new cells, and die: Certain genes that help cells grow, divide, and stay alive are called oncogenes. Genes that help keep cell division under control, repair mistakes in DNA, or make cells die at the right time are called tumor suppressor genes.
Inherited gene changes Researchers have found gene changes that cause some rare inherited syndromes like neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, and von Hippel-Lindau syndrome that increase the risk of developing some brain and spinal cord tumors.
Gene changes acquired during a person's lifetime It's usually not known why people without inherited syndromes develop brain or spinal cord tumors.
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