What are Symptoms Treatment and Prognosis of Brainstem glioma?

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What are Symptoms Treatment and Prognosis of Brainstem glioma?

Can brainstem glioma be cured?

Can brainstem glioma be cured? As certain parts of the brainstem control important vital functions that may be impaired by surgery, the role of surgery in certain brainstem tumors is questionable and is usually not recommended. Only surgeons with experience in brainstem tumors can try.

Some brain stem tumors, especially pilocytic astrocytomas, can be removed by appropriate techniques if the tumor is located in a location that allows surgical access.

Patients with invasive disease in any part of the brain stem rarely consider surgery; trying to remove the tumor will also remove important but infiltrating brain tissue, which is responsible for important vital functions.

Usually leads to devastating neurological deficits or death. However, in these cases, stereotactic biopsy is possible to obtain tissue diagnosis.

Overview of brainstem glioma

Brainstem gliomas can range from very low-grade and potentially curable grade to high-grade (malignant) tumors. The prognosis of brainstem glioma is related to the type and grade of the tumor. The type of tumor is usually related to the location of the tumor in the brain stem.

Compared with the other two parts of the brainstem, aggressive fibrous astrocytoma and mixed glioma prefer the pons. Because in these tumors, tumor cells coexist with healthy brain tissue and cannot be removed.

Low-grade pilocytic astrocytomas tend to be in the midbrain and medulla. These slow-growing tumors form a mass of solid tissue, and can also form a cyst that replaces rather than invades the brain tissue. These may be cured by surgery. Glioblastoma is rare in the brainstem, but it can occur anywhere.

What are Symptoms Treatment and Prognosis of Brainstem glioma?

Brainstem glioma symptoms

Can brainstem glioma be cured? The more common symptoms of brainstem glioma are: headache, nausea, abnormal speech or balance, difficulty swallowing, weakness or numbness in the arms and/or legs, facial weakness, and diplopia.

For low-grade tumors, these symptoms may develop slowly and may be ignored within a few months, but fast-growing high-grade tumors often have symptoms suddenly.

Prognosis of brainstem glioma

Can brainstem glioma be cured? Brainstem glioma is a serious disease that will be treated by a multidisciplinary team of neurosurgeons, oncologists, and radiation oncologists. The main goal of treatment is to prolong the survival of patients by slowing the growth of tumors.

For low-grade focal brain stem tumors, cure and long-term survival are possible. For high-grade tumors in the pons that cannot be completely removed, despite intensive treatment, the tumor can still regenerate, usually within a year.

If treatment fails to control tumor growth, the tumor may begin to affect important body functions such as breathing and heart rate. In many cases, the initial treatment can control tumor growth, which usually lasts for several months.

Follow-up treatment is usually not as effective as the initial treatment and may not be able to control tumor growth; tumor growth may only be controlled within a few months.

Brainstem Glioma Treatment

Can brainstem glioma be cured? Because certain parts of the brainstem control important vital functions that may be impaired by surgery, the role of surgery in certain brainstem tumors is questionable and is usually not recommended.

It can only be done by people with experience in brainstem tumors. Of surgeons try. Some brain stem tumors, especially pilocytic astrocytomas, can be removed by appropriate techniques if the tumor is located in a location that allows surgical access.

Patients with invasive disease in any part of the brainstem rarely consider surgery; trying to remove the tumor will also remove important but infiltrating brain tissue, which is responsible for important vital functions. Usually leads to devastating neurological deficits or death.

However, it is possible to perform stereotactic biopsy in these cases to obtain tissue diagnosis, and with the correct equipment in the hands of experienced surgeons in these operations, they are relatively safe.

Most of these tumors will be treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy because they can reduce the symptoms of invasive brainstem glioma and slow the growth of the tumor.

Slow-growing low-grade brainstem gliomas can have a long period of remission after treatment. Despite radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the prognosis of high-grade brainstem tumors is usually poor.

What are Symptoms Treatment and Prognosis of Brainstem glioma?

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