Side Effects Of Radiation Therapy For Glioblastoma Multiforme

I m aware that this type of tumor spreads and grows very fast however the side effects of the two treatments has brought up a great deal of nervousness.

Side effects of radiation therapy for glioblastoma multiforme.

To start the neurosurgeon will remove as much of the tumor as possible and may implant medicated wafers right into the brain. Gbm is often referred to as a grade iv astrocytoma these are the most invasive type of glial tumors rapidly growing and commonly spreading into nearby brain tissue. Glioblastoma multiforme is also called glioblastoma grade iv astrocytoma or gbm. For this reason most people receive additional treatments after surgery to target the remaining cells.

Median means half of all patients with this tumor survive to this. The next suggested path is radiation and chemo for 6 weeks. Glioblastoma multiforme gbm also called glioblastoma is a fast growing glioma that develops from star shaped glial cells astrocytes and oligodendrocytes that support the health of the nerve cells within the brain. Glioblastoma multiforme is a fast growing brain or spinal cord tumor.

These tumors grow from glial cells which form the supportive tissue of the brain and spinal cord. It affects the brain more often than the spinal cord. There were 203 patients with brain tumors greater than or equal to 44 mm in diameter involved in this clinical. The most commonly used chemotherapy for glioblastoma is called temozolomide tmz and hair loss isn t typically one of the side effects of this chemotherapy.

Researchers from the radiation therapy oncology group have reported that the addition of srt to conventional ebrt and chemotherapy does not appear to improve outcomes in patients with glioblastoma multiforme. Radiation therapy uses high energy beams such as x rays or protons to kill cancer cells. As a result doctors can use lower doses of radiation reducing treatment side effects. The standard of treatment for a gbm is surgery followed by daily radiation and oral chemotherapy for six and a half weeks then a six month regimen of oral chemotherapy given five days a month.

The side effects mentioned above tend to occur during treatment up until a few months after treatment. The median survival time with glioblastoma is 15 to 16 months in people who get surgery chemotherapy and radiation treatment. After doing quite a bit of research i m second guessing whether it is worth going through radiation and chemo. However treating glioblastoma with radiation therapy to the brain can cause hair loss around the part of the head where the radiation beam enters.

But because glioblastoma grows into the normal brain tissue complete removal isn t possible.