Online CPR Certification Blog

If you have questions regarding brain tumor ranging from treatment options to side effects and others, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask your health care provider about them. Treating brain cancer is very complex and several doctors are consulted in the treatment. The team of medical professionals involved includes neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, oncologists, a physical therapist, a social worker, a dietician and other specialists.There are varied treatment protocols depending on many factors. Nevertheless, the treatments used for brain cancer include radiation therapy, surgery and chemotherapy and different treatments are combined in most cases.

Brain cancer surgery

Surgery is a common treatment administered to most people suffering from a brain tumor. Ideally, the main aim of surgery is confirming that the abnormality noted during test is actually a tumor and it will be removed if found. In case it is not possible to remove the tumor, a sample of it will be taken as a way of identifying its type. Some cases of benign tumors are cured completely when the tumor is surgically removed. The neurosurgeon does his best to ensure that the entire tumor is completely removed.
Several treatment procedures might be provided before surgery. For instance, a steroid drug will be given to the patient like decadron, which relieves the swelling. An anticonvulsant drug might be used for preventing and relieving the tumors. Where cerebrospinal fluid has been collected in excess around the brain area, a plastic thin tube could be used for draining the fluid. The neurosurgeon will drain it to another site on the brain where it can be eliminated easily.

Radiation therapy for brain cancer treatment

Simply known as radiotherapy, this treatment procedure involves using high energy rays for killing the tumor cells and this inhibits the cancerous cells from multiplying and growing. This procedure is used as an alternative for people who for one reason or the other aren’t suitable for surgery. It could also be used together with the surgical treatment for treatment tumor cells, which remain. It is actually a local therapy that only affects cells along its path. As such, cells on other body parts or in the brain aren’t affected by radiation therapy.
There are various ways in which radiation could be given. External radiation for example makes use of high radiation energy beam that targets the tumor and takes a few minutes only. There is the implant or internal radiation that makes use of tiny radioactive capsules that are placed in the brain tumor. Patients receiving this treatment are required to stay at the hospital for several days. The third type of radiotherapy for brain cancer treatment is stereotactic radiosurgery, commonly referred to as the knifeless surgical procedure. No actual surgery is involved in this process and the tumor is destroyed without the skull being opened.