What are the treatment options for a Brain Tumour?

Most times a brain tumor can lead to brain cancer, and it refers to any collection or mass of abnormal cells within the brain. It is a well-known fact that the human skull, which encloses the brain, is extremely rigid, and therefore, any unwanted growth within such a restricted space can cause problems. Most people assume that brain tumors are usually cancerous.

However, the fact is that brain tumors can be malignant (cancerous), as well as benign or non-cancerous. Despite the nature of brain tumors, the growth of malignant or benign tumors generally causes some of the pressure on the skull to increase, and it eventually results in brain damage or other life-threatening conditions. Therefore, it is immensely important to treat these brain tumors in order to avoid further complications.

Treatment for brain tumors usually depends on several factors like the person’s age, general health, size of the tumor, location, type of brain tumor, etc. Read on further to learn more about the different treatment for brain tumour and the long-term outlook.

Brain Tumor treatment Overview

Treatment options for brain tumors are usually complex. Most of these treatment plans involve a proper team of several consulting doctors.

1. The team of medical practitioners includes neurosurgeons, oncologists, primary health care providers, and radiation oncologists.
2. Your medical team may also include a physical therapist, a dietician, a social worker, and other neurological specialists.
3. The brain tumor treatment protocols vary widely according to the brain tumor’s size, location, type, and additional medical problems, if any.
4. The most commonly used brain tumor treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, etc.

Different Treatment Options For Brain Tumor

There are several treatment options for brain tumors, depending on their type, location, size, as well as your overall health. Some of the commonly used treatments for brain tumors include:

1. Surgery – If your brain tumor is located in a position that makes it easily accessible for an operation, then your surgeon will opt for surgery to remove your brain tumor. In some cases, brain tumors are small, and it is easy to separate them from the surrounding brain tissues, which eventually make the surgical removal possible. However, in other cases, it is quite difficult to separate the brain tumor from the surrounding tissues, and it ultimately makes the surgery riskier. In such situations, the surgeons try to remove as much of a brain tumor as possible.
2. Invasive, Scarless Brain Surgery – It is another effective form of treatment surgery for brain tumors. Even though this procedure is offered at selected medical centers across the country, it is used for helping patients who have an inoperable brain tumor. It is important for you to know that invasive, scarless neurosurgery is used for treating and removing the tumor safely with minimal risks of severe side-effects or complications. In addition to this, people who undergo invasive, scarless brain surgery often experience shorter and speedy recovery, reduced hospital stays, and a lower estimated mortality rate.
3. Radiation Therapy – It is one of the most widely used treatment options for a brain tumor in which high energy beams like protons or X-rays are used for killing brain tumor cells. In most cases, this radiation therapy is done from a machine outside your body (external beam radiation). However, in certain cases, radiation is placed close to your brain tumor (Brachytherapy).
4. Stereotactic Radiosurgery – It is a form of radiosurgery in which multiple beams of radiation are being used in order to provide a highly focused radiation treatment to kill brain tumor cells in a small area. Although the radiation beams are not very powerful, the point where they converge receives a very heavy dose of radiation, and it eventually kills the tumor cells.
5. Chemotherapy – In this type of brain tumor treatment, drugs are being used for killing tumor cells. As a matter of fact, chemotherapy drugs can be directly injected into a vein or consumed orally in the form of pills. Many other chemotherapy drugs are available, and they are used according to the type of brain tumor.
6. Targeted Drug Therapy – It is another effective form of brain tumor treatment in which several drugs are being used for treating different abnormalities present within the brain tumor cells. The targeted drugs not only block these abnormalities but also kill the cancerous cells, thereby treating the brain tumors without any side-effects.

The Bottom Line

Being diagnosed with a brain tumor can be a little frightening and overwhelming, but you can take the necessary steps to treat your brain tumor and get it removed carefully without causing any side-effects or ill-health consequences. Ensure you consult your medical team and seek necessary suggestions from them in order to treat your brain tumor, along with speeding your recovery process.