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Brain tumor treatment at Mayo Clinic is a team process. A patient may see several Mayo Clinic specialists from the brain tumor treatment team, who work together to provide the high-quality, integrated care for which Mayo Clinic is known. Generally, a neurologist who has expertise and additional training in neuro-oncology, will serve as the team coordinator.
Because new treatments continually develop, several options may be available for patients at different points in their treatment. The pros and cons of each option are discussed in detail during treatment planning. Mayo Clinic's goal is to improve the duration and quality of survival. Every effort is made to tailor the treatment program to the individual needs of the patient and family.
Treatment options depend on the type of tumor and its location within the brain, along with the child's age and overall health. Complete or near-complete removal of the tumor is often possible.
Three kinds of treatment are used, either alone or in combination:
Treatment of brain tumors usually begins with surgery to remove all or part of the tumor while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. Some tumors can be removed completely, others only partially, or just a small piece of tissue is removed for testing (biopsy). If a tumor is slow growing, physicians may not operate immediately but take a watch-and-see approach.
Mayo Clinic's expertise in computer-assisted brain surgery allows neurosurgeons to precisely locate tumors and remove them using the safest and least invasive route possible. Brain mapping techniques and awake brain surgery helps surgeons operate without injuring critical areas of the brain, such as cranial nerves or parts of the brain that control speech.
Radiation uses high-energy X-rays to destroy tumor cells and is often used after chemotherapy, to treat tumors when surgery is not possible.
One intriguing new brain tumor treatment involves a radiation procedure called Gamma Knife™ surgery (stereotactic radiosurgery). This treatment precisely focuses radiation beams on the tumor in its exact size and shape, guided by brain imaging techniques. No scalpels are involved.
Since radiation therapy can affect a child's growth and brain development, clinical trials are testing ways to decrease or delay radiation therapy, especially for younger children who have not yet achieved full growth.
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs may be taken by mouth or injected into a vein (intravenous) or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body.
When chemotherapy is needed for an extended period of time, or administered to a child whose veins are small or hard to access, physicians may suggest surgically implanting a catheter in a major vein. The catheter allows easy access to a vein without repeated needlesticks. Once implanted, the catheter can be used not only for chemotherapy but also for antibiotics, fluids and blood transfusions.
Several new types of chemotherapy agents are under investigation to target just tumor cells. Mayo Clinic and other centers are collaborating on studies using gene therapy to deliver tumor-specific agents and using anti-angiogenic drugs to cut off a tumor's blood supply.
A number of laboratories at Mayo Clinic are also investigating new agents that may interrupt tumor growth or seek out and kill brain tumor cells while reducing harm to normal non-tumor cells.
Evolving new technology is helping to make the treatment of brain tumors even more precise.
Immunotherapy (using the body's immune system to fight cancer) is also being studied in clinical trials. This therapy uses materials made by the body or in a laboratory to boost, direct, or restore the body's natural defenses against disease.
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