Cancer is the excess growth of cells in the body. This growth is called cancer because the growth of cells is abnormal and can be fast, interfering with the body's normal functioning. This growth of cells can happen in any part of the body, including the brain. The treatment for this type of excess growth is usually some manner or radiation to blast the cells, so as to not allow them to multiply further. One such radiation treatment is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is when drugs are irradiated on to the growth. Chemotherapy is used for all forms of cancer, including brain cancer.
Before we discuss what type of chemotherapy is used to treat brain tumours, let's look at what is chemotherapy. These drugs are typically called cytotoxic drugs. Chemotherapy uses certain type of drugs that can be harmful to the body but these drugs destroy healthy cells that in the body as well. This particular side effect makes chemotherapy very unpleasant as a method of treatment for cancer.
Chemotherapy is one of the many types of cancer treatments along with surgery and radiation. Chemotherapy is also usually used in conjunction with surgery and/or radiation as complete care for cancer. Nowadays chemotherapy, in treatment of cancer, is used in palliative or preventive care or as a support to other forms of treatment.
Though chemotherapy is used in cancer treatments, it is not always the first option in the case of brain cancer. Brain cancer or tumours in the brain can be of many different kinds. The chemotherapy will vary depending on where the tumour is situated in the brain or what type of tumour it is.
Cancer of the brain includes cancerous growth on any part of the brain (cerebrum, cerebellum or the brain stem) and even parts of the spinal cord. The main types of brain cancer (or any other cancer) are basically malignant or benign growth. Malignant tumours are growths in which the cells multiply rapidly, potentially harming the body much faster while benign growths are cell growth that have grown to a certain size and stopped growing further. Benign growth usually does not have cancerous cells but stand a high chance of turning cancerous.
Though typically benign tumours are harmless mostly anywhere in the body but in the brain, these growths can be tricky as they could increase pressure on some nerve or some part of the brain. Tumours in the brain can also be primary or metastatic. Primary tumours are tumours that have first appeared in the brain while metastatic tumours are tumours that appear in the brain as a result cancer from other parts of the body.
Typically there are at least 12 forms of brain tumours. Most tumours or cancers get their name from where they generally appear. The most common form of brain tumours include
Treatment for brain cancer includes chemotherapy along with some other treatment. Surgery is a frequently included treatment along with chemotherapy or radiation. The effectiveness of the treatment depends on many factors, like when the cancer was diagnosed, its proximity to various parts of the brain, and of course, the fitness levels of the patient.
Some of the main side effects of chemotherapy and other treatments for brain cancer include
The cost of chemotherapy can also be a prohibitive factor in cancer treatment. Therefore it becomes important to discuss the cost factor while identifying which treatment would suit you the most, to treat the brain cancer.
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