Brain Tumour Treatments
Different types of tumours need different treatment. Most brain tumours are treated by surgery, radiotherapy and sometimes also chemotherapy. The treatment used depends on the type of tumour, its size and location and occasionally the age of the patient. It is important that the treatment controls the tumour with as few long-lasting side effects as possible.
Sometimes, when it is not known which treatment is the best, treatment can be determined by what is known as a clinical trial. This means that some patients will receive one treatment and some another. This is to try to find out if one treatment is better than the other.
Other Important Treatments
Supportive treatments might also be needed, such as steroids to reduce troublesome swelling in the brain or anticonvulsant medicines to control fits. Palliative care is another name for supportive treatment. Sometimes, when a tumour cannot be treated by any type of surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy, supportive treatment is the main treatment and is used to prevent or help symptoms.
Rehabilitation is also important, helping to cope with and improve any changes caused by the tumour or the treatment. This might be for speech, movement and muscle strength, getting back to normal daily activities, or changes in memory and thinking.
What are the possible long term effects of treatment of brain tumours in children?
Treatment to the brain can affect how a child grows and develops, physically and mentally.
Following brain tumour treatment, it doesn’t mean that the child will be completely well. Many patients will still have the neurological and visual problems that resulted from the tumour; many lose intellectual ability, especially in those patients below the age of seven. Patients routinely lose their hair. Almost all develop growth hormone deficiencies and will often go through an early puberty. If the tumour is deep-seated in the midbrain, more hormone deficiencies occur which are potentially life-threatening.