Treatment for brain cancer depends on the type, the location of the tumor, size and stage of development. Patients can be afflicted with one of two types of brain cancer; primary brain cancer or secondary brain cancer, which is a metastasis of a cancer elsewhere in the body. Depending on the patient's case not all treatment options will be available.
Chemotherapy
One treatment option for brain cancer is chemotherapy, which is used for multiple forms of cancer. Chemotherapy uses one or more drugs to kill the cancerous cells; however, the chemotherapy drugs can also kill healthy cells. The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center states that chemotherapy can be administered three ways when treating brain cancer. The first option is oral administration, where the patient ingests the drugs; the second option is an injection, where the chemotherapy drugs are inserted into the muscle or blood vessels. The third option is intrathecal chemotherapy, where the drugs are introduced directly into the cerebrospinal fluid. The Oncology Channel adds that the chemotherapy drugs procarbazine, cisplatin, carboplatin and temozolomide are effective in treating brain cancer.
Radiation
A second treatment option for brain cancer is radiation, which utilizes rays to halt cancerous cell growth. The UCSF Medical Center states that radiation can be administered in two ways: external and internal. With external radiation, the rays are targeted at the tumor from outside the body; internal radiation, however, uses an implant that is put in the tumor. The Oncology Channel elaborates with three forms of external radiation: stereotactic radiosurgery, linear accelerators and the gamma knife. Stereotactic radiosurgery uses a CT or MRI to scan the brain, then pinpoint the radiation to the tumor. The gamma knife also focuses on a single point, but uses ionizing beams instead. With linear accelerators, protons are formed that match the tumor size and shape.
Surgery
Surgery is another treatment, which removes all or most of the malignant brain tumor. When performing surgery, doctors use a technique called brain mapping, which prevents them from disrupting normal brain function. The UCSF Medical Center notes that in order for the doctor to perform brain surgery, she needs to do a craniotomy, which opens the skull and exposes the brain. Another surgical option, according to the Oncology Channel, is laser microsurgery; an MRI is used to locate the tumor, and a laser removes the tumor.
