The brain contains billions of cells, working together to support cognitive function and processes required to sustain life. Cells within the brain can be broadly classified as neurons or glia. Neurons, the nerve cells of the brain, communicate with each other to signal to the body while glial cells support neuron function and help maintain the health of the brain. Brain cancer develops when neurons or glia begin to proliferate out of control, leading to the formation of a tumor that can spread to other parts of the body. Brain cancer can be treated with a number of therapies that promote cancer cell death and tumor shrinkage.
Surgery
One possible treatment for brain cancer is surgery to remove the tumor. During brain cancer surgery, the doctor will attempt to remove all cancerous tissue along with a small amount of tissue surrounding the tumor, to try and remove any remaining cancer cells. Due to the sensitivity of brain surgery, neurosurgeons use brain mapping technology to avoid essential centers within the brain involved in motor, visual or language functioning. The University of California, San Francisco indicates that brain cancer surgery may be combined with other cancer treatments, such as targeted radiation therapy.
Chemotherapy
The Yale Brain Tumor Center notes that chemotherapy is used to treat around 75 percent of patients with malignant brain tumors. Chemotherapy involves the use of highly toxic drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs target a number of distinct mechanisms within cells, ultimately promoting cancer cell death. In the presence of chemotherapeutic agents, cancer cells cannot perform functions needed to survive, or the cell is cut off from survival signals and dies. Patients undergoing chemotherapy may experience a number of side effects, since chemotherapy drugs may target healthy cells as well as cancer cells. Patients receiving chemotherapy may suffer from nausea, low blood cell counts or hair loss.
Radiation
Another possible treatment for brain cancer is radiation therapy, which uses a high dose of radiation to damage and kill brain cancer cells. Exposure to radiation damages the cell's DNA--the blueprint the cell requires to make proteins needed to sustain life. Radiation also promotes the formation of chemicals called free radicals, which further damage cellular DNA and promote cell death. Radiation therapy specifically targets the brain tumor, so that the cancer cells receive a high dose of radiation, while surrounding tissue receives only a very low dose. A number of brain tumors are treated with radiation therapy, particular recurring or high-grade brain tumors, according to the Yale Brain Tumor Center.
