Nuclear Oncology

Posts Tagged ‘Brain Tumors’

Various treatments are used to treat brain tumors. The type of treatment recommended depends on the size and type of tumor, growth rate and the overall health of the patient. Treatment options include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, targeted biological agents or a combination thereof. Surgical resection (if not dangerous) is usually the first treatment recommendation to reduce the pressure quickly sobe brain. This website focuses on radiation therapy for brain tumors.

In the last two decades, researchers have developed new techniques for delivering radiation to the brain tumor while protecting nearby healthy tissues. These treatments include brachytherapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and radiosurgery.

Radiation therapy may be recommended for tumors sensitive to this treatment. Conventional radiation therapy uses external beams of x-rays, gamma rays or protons to the tumor to kill cancer cells and shrink brain tumors. It is usually given over a period of several weeks. The whole brain radiation therapy is an option for multiple tumors. Read the rest of this entry »

A tumor of the brain or spinal cord is a disease in which abnormal tissue forms in the tissues of the brain or spinal cord. The brain controls many important body functions. The spinal cord connects the brain with nerves in most parts of the body. Tumors of the brain and spinal cord are a common type of childhood cancer.

There are different types of tumors of the brain and spinal cord in children.
- Astrocytomas
- brain stem glioma
- embryonal tumors of central nervous system
- germ cell tumors of the central nervous system
- primitive neuroectodermal tumors of the central nervous system
- Craniopharyngioma
- Ependymoma
- Ependymoblastoma
- malignant glioma
- Medulloblastoma
- Medulloepithelioma
- spinal cord tumors
- pineal region tumors

Read the rest of this entry »