Treatment for brain and spinal cord cancers depend on a number of factors including, the grade, type, location and size of the cancer as well your individual medical history, symptoms and personal preferences for treatment. 1 Medications including steroids and anti-seizure drugs may also be given along with the above treatments to help relieve symptoms.1
The main treatment options for brain cancer include:
- Surgery – is some cases surgery can remove all (total resection) or some (partial resection or biopsy) of the tumour to help either manage symptoms or remove the cancer completely.2
- Chemotherapy – are specific drugs that destroy cancer cells (although they can also destroy healthy cells which can lead to side-effects).3
- Using chemotherapy drugs to treat brain cancer can be difficult due to the blood brain barrier, which is an ‘in built’ protection system stopping harmful substances in the blood, from reaching the brain.8