BRAIN CANCER (TUMOUR) TREATMENT
Brain cancer is a malignant tumour or a cancerous growth that takes place in the brain. A tumour could be a mass or growth of abnormal cells inside or closer to the brain that could be cancerous or non-cancerous cells. Cancer or tumour can begin in the brain or start spreading towards the brain from other parts of the body. The tumour that begins in the brain grows slowly and normally does not spread to the other parts of the brain and possibilities of the tumour removal from the brain are high. As the tumour grows in the brain it could damage the nearby tissues and the symptoms could vary from person to person based on the location of the tumour in the brain. Some of the common symptoms of a brain tumour are; Early symptoms could be headaches and feeling sick especially in the mornings.
Different Types of Brain Tumours:
Primary Brain Tumours:
Primary brain tumours start in the brain and there are types of primary brain tumours in which some could be benign and some could be malignant.
Astrocytoma -A brain tumour that commonly occurs in children, which originates in the brain stem, cerebellum, or also in the spinal cord.
Ependymoma – The tumour originates from the membrane that lines the ventricles and central canal of the spine.
Gliobastoma Multiforme – This type of tumour mostly occurs in adults, which originate at the glial cells in the cerebrum.
Medulloblastoma – This is the second common type of tumour that occurs in children, which originates at the fourth cerebral ventricle and the cerebellum and is also considered as a highly malignant primary tumour.
Secondary Brain Tumours:
Cancer that begins in other parts of the body and then spread to the brain is considered as a secondary brain tumour. The cancer cells spread to the brain by the flow of blood or could also spread due to an adjacent tissue. The most common kinds of cancers that spread to the brain are;
Treatment for Brain Tumour:
The treatment recommended for the brain cancer or tumour by the doctors includes Chemotherapy, Radiation, and surgery, followed by medications. The treatment could be a combination of these methods or handled individually at a time, which depends on upon the person’s condition.
Surgery – Surgery is the main treatment suggested by doctors for benign cancer and primary malignant tumours. The surgeon along with his team of other doctors aims to remove the tumour cells in the surgery with less damage happening to the other brain tissues.
Chemotherapy – This is another treatment method opted by the doctors for the treatment of brain tumour. This is used for the people with a high-grade primary brain tumour or could be used as an initial treatment along with radiotherapy. The chance of completely removing the tumour from the brain with this method is unlikely but helps in shrinking the tumour or controls it in spreading to other parts.
Radiotherapy – In this method of treatment, high levels of energy rays are used to kill the cancer cells, which stop the cancer cells either to grow or multiply further. Radiotherapy is a treatment used when a person cannot undergo a surgery or is used after the surgery if some tumour cells are still remaining. This treatment does not affect the other parts of the body and is localised to where the cancer cells exist.