Treatment Options

Surgery is usually the first and the most common treatment, and is associated with the greatest amount of therapeutic effect. To remove the tumor from the brain, a neurosurgeon will remove a piece of bone to gain access to the brain. This operation is called a craniotomy. Usually the bone will be put back in place and secured with small plates and screws. However, sometimes the bone cannot be replaced, or cannot be replaced immediately, in which case other materials will be used to cover the hole in the skull and protect the brain.

At present, surgery is the most effective treatment for patients with primary brain tumors. Due to the location of the tumor, however, surgery may not always be possible, and the surgery itself can result in a permanent disability. Doctors are developing new, innovative techniques that optimize the use of technology, radiation, gene therapy, and biological therapies.

Radiation therapy is often prescribed following surgery or, in the case of inoperable tumors, instead of surgery. When used following surgery, radiation therapy is generally acknowledged to give an improved therapeutic effect over surgery alone. Radiation therapy uses Xrays produced by a variety of methods, including linear accelerators, gamma knife, or proton beam to kill tumor cells or shrink tumors without opening the skull (external-beam radiation therapy). Radiation therapy may also be used by putting materials that produce radiation (radioisotopes) through thin plastic tubes into the tumor to kill cancer cells from the inside, known as brachytherapy.

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill tumor cells. Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put into the body by a needle in the vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body.

Due to what is commonly called the “blood barrier” it can be difficult for medications to reach affected areas of the brain. In some cases, doctors will implant a medical device to deliver chemotherapy and other medicines directly to the tumor site following surgery. Brain Science Foundation funds projects in this very arena, including one that uses a microchip to regulate and direct the flow of medication.

Biological therapies are therapies that enhance or improve the body’s natural ability to fight disease, or are based on the normal mechanisms utilized to control growth. One example of a type of biological therapy is “immunotherapy,” which uses the body's immune system to control or destroy tumor cells. Biological therapies are sometimes referred to as “biological response modifiers” because they are intended to optimize or somehow change the body’s response to growing tumor cells.