Brain Tumors In Adolescents And Young Adults
- Approximately 31,299 adolescents and young adults are estimated to be living with a brain tumor in the U.S.
- Approximately 14.5% of all brain tumors occur in the AYA population
- An estimated 12,072 new cases of AYA brain tumors will be diagnosed in 2022
- Brain tumors are the second most common cancer overall in individuals ages 15-39 years
- Brain tumors are the second leading cause of cancer-related death overall in this age group
- The five-year relative survival rate for AYA patients diagnosed with a primary brain tumor is 90.6%
- The rate is 71.5% for malignant tumors and 98.2% for non-malignant tumors
What Makes Yale Medicine’s Approach To Treating Metastatic Brain Tumors Unique
Yale Medicine is the only multidisciplinary consortium providing comprehensive brain cancer care in southern New England. This gives patients access to the full range of treatment options, from medical therapy to cutting-edge radiosurgery.
At Yale Medicine, treatment is personalized to the patient’s needs, and is evidence-based, acquired through national research and experience. Discussion of challenging cases occurs at a weekly tumor board, and recommendations are communicated back to the involved physicians to ensure a seamless coordination of care.
What Is A Brain Tumor
A brain tumor is an abnormal growth or mass of cells in or around your brain. Together, spinal tumors and brain tumors are called central nervous system tumors.
Brain tumors can be malignant or benign . Some tumors grow quickly, while others are slow growing.
Only about one-third of brain tumors are cancerous. But whether theyre cancerous or not, brain tumors can impact brain function and your health if they grow large enough to press on surrounding nerves, blood vessels and tissue.
Tumors that develop in your brain are called primary tumors. Tumors that spread to your brain after forming in a different part of your body are called secondary tumors, or metastatic brain tumors. This article focuses on primary brain tumors.
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What Causes Brain Tumors
Researchers know brain tumors develop when certain genes on the chromosomes of a cell are damaged and no longer function properly, but they arent sure why this happens. Your DNA in your chromosomes tells cells throughout your body what to do it tells them when to grow, when to divide or multiply and/or when to die.
When brain cell DNA changes, it gives your brain cells new instructions. Your body develops abnormal brain cells that grow and multiply faster than normal and sometimes live longer than normal. When that happens, the ever-growing crowd of abnormal cells takes over space in your brain.
In some cases, a person may be born with changes in one or more of these genes. Environmental factors, such as exposure to large amounts of radiation from X-rays or previous cancer treatment, may then lead to further damage.
In other cases, the environmental injury to the genes may be the only cause.
There are a few rare, inherited genetic syndromes that are associated with brain tumors, including:
These changes can point to the part of your brain that may be affected by a tumor.
If your healthcare provider suspects you may have a brain tumor, a brain scan, most often an MRI, is usually the next step.
If A Loved One Declines Treatment
If a loved one decides to forego lung cancer treatment, it can be a difficult, heart-wrenching thing to hear. You may not be able to fully comprehend it at first. In such instances, let your loved one know that you hear them and love them, but that you need a day or two to process the news.
If you do decide you need more information, ask compassionately. Avoid judgmental questions starting with “why,” and give your loved one time to express themselves fully without interruption or displays of panic or disapproval.
In the end, there will come a time when you need to respect your loved one’s decision, however hard that may be. Acceptance will ultimately make you a better caregiver and prepare you emotionally for when your loved one is no longer with you.
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Why Is There No Cure
During most of the 20th century, the number of people killed by cancer every year relative to population size, or the cancer death rate rose steadily to its peak in 1991, according to the ACS’s most recentsummary of the state of cancer in the U.S. Since 1991, the cancer death rate has fallen by 31%, which is equivalent to 3.2 million fewer cancer deaths compared with the death rate in 1991.
The study authors attribute the decrease in cancer death rates to reductions in smoking, earlier detection and better treatments for some cancers. “We have made a lot of progress in the fight against cancer,” said Rebecca Siegel MPH, the lead author of this study.
Yet despite all that progress, a wholesale “cure for cancer” remains elusive for many reasons. The first issue is that cancer is not just one disease that could be eradicated with one cure. Instead, it’s hundreds of diseases, Siegel explained. “We would need hundreds of different types of cures to cure all cancer,” she said.
Another reason it’s hard to cure cancer is that the bar for cancer being cured is incredibly high. Cancer is cured if there are no traces of it in the body and it will never come back or is not expected to come back. But even when all traces of a cancer have disappeared, there’s no way of knowing with certainty that it won’t return.
Scientists Push To Expand Survival Rates For Brain Cancer Patients
This is an excerpt of an article that appeared in the Palm Beach Daily News. Read the full story here.
It is the most complex organ in the human body.
It makes possible our thoughts, emotions and movements and enables us to perceive and react to the world around us.
When cancer strikes this delicate organ, doctors have limited tools available to fight the disease.
Only 25 percent of patients with primary brain cancers those that originate in the brain, as opposed to those that migrate there from elsewhere are still alive three years after diagnosis, according to Dr. Jordan Grabel, chief of neurosurgery at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach.
But a push to discover tumor-specific chemotherapy drugs and expand the use of immunotherapy agents may change that in coming years.
Surgery is more effective in extracting metastatic brain cancers those that start in the breast, colon, skin or lung, for example because they form tight balls. But the most common form of primary brain cancer, glioblastoma tumors, has finger-like projections that extend deep into the brain.
People with glioblastoma typically die within 16 months of diagnosis, according to Howard A. Fine, M.D., chief of neuro-oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
But that organization is performing cutting-edge research designed to boost brain-cancer survival rates and to lengthen life after diagnosis.
….
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How Long Do I Have To Live
It’s a reasonable question but one that oncologists are generally hard-pressed to answer, particularly in the earlier stages of the disease. Even though the stage and grade of your cancer can help healthcare providers predict the likely outcome , there are few healthcare providers who will give you a precise amount of time because, in all fairness, the “likely outcome” may not be your outcome.
Among the factors that can predict survival times in people with lung cancer:
- Cancer stage, classified by the characteristics of the tumor, whether lymph nodes are involved, and whether the cancer has spread
- Cancer grade, which describes the characteristics of the cancer cell, whether it is likely to spread, and how fast
- Your age, particularly if you are in your senior years
- Your current health, including your general health, wellness, and the chronic illnesses you have
- Your performance status, a term that describes your ability to carry on ordinary daily activities while living with cancer
The one factor that almost invariably affects survival time is whether you seek treatment or not. Even among senior patients with advanced cancer, some form of chemotherapy has been shown to increase survival times significantly.
If caught early enough, lung cancer may even be fully curable. If you are older and present with metastatic lung cancer, you can be still be treated and increase your chance of living at least one year by no less than 40%.
What Are The Side Effects Of Brain Cancer Treatment
Side effects of brain cancer treatment vary with the treatment plan and the overall health status of the patient. Most treatment plans try to keep all side effects to a minimum. For some patients, the side effects of brain cancer treatment can be severe.
Treatment plans should include a discussion of potential side effects and the likelihood of them developing, so the patient and their caregivers can make appropriate treatment decisions in conjunction with their medical team. Also, if side effects develop, the patient has some knowledge of what to do about them such as when to take certain medicines or when to call their doctor to report health changes.
Surgical side effects include:
- an increase in current symptoms,
- damage to normal brain tissue,
- brain swelling, and
Other symptoms of changes in brain function such as muscle weakness, mental changes, and decreases in any brain-controlled function can occur. Combinations of these side effects may happen. The side effects are most noticeable shortly after surgery but frequently decline over time. Occasionally, the side effects do not go away.
Chemotherapy usually affects rapidly growing cancer cells but also can affect normal tissue. Chemotherapy is usually given intravenously so the drugs can reach most body organs.
Common side effects of chemotherapy are:
- loss of energy.
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What Are The Survival Rates For Brain Cancer
The survival rates for brain cancer vary widely depending on the type of tumor and the age of the patient. Here are some basic survival rate statistics, as reported by the American Cancer Society:
- Oligodendroglioma – 90% for patients 20-44, 82% for patients 45-54 and 69% for patients 55-64
- Meningioma – 84% for patients 20-44, 79% for patients 45-54 and 74% for patients 55-64
- Glioblastoma – 22% for patients 20-44, 9% for patients 45-54 and 6% for patients 55-64
- Ependymoma/anaplastic ependymoma – 92% for patients 20-44, 90% for patients 45-54 and 87% for patients 55-64
- Anaplastic astrocytoma – 58% for patients 20-44, 29% for patients 45-54 and 15% for patients 55-64
“We have assembled a highly experienced team of specialists who work together to create a coordinated treatment plan that optimizes care for each patient, individually.”
Although survival rates can be informative for patients who want to know more about their possible prognoses, these broad statistics arent truly indicative of any one persons projected outcome. Thats because general survival rates:
- Are based on data collected from a large population of people
- Dont take into account personal factors, such as a patients unique response to treatment
- Are based on data from patients who entered treatment at least five years ago. As a result, they do not account for advancements in research and treatment that have occurred since that time
Metastatic Brain Tumor Surgery
Surgery provides fast relief of mass effect pressure inside the skull resulting from a growing metastatic tumor and swelling of the brain. Some patients may find improvement of symptoms as early as within hours of surgery if mass effect is what is causing your symptoms.
The goal of surgery is to minimize the amount of space the tumor takes up by debulking, which means removing as much of the tumor as possible while maintaining neurological function.
In general, doctors recommend surgery for metastatic brain cancer when:
- There is a clear link between the symptoms and the tumors location.
- The primary cancer is treatable and under control.
- The tumor can be safely removed.
The most common type of surgery to remove metastatic brain tumors is called a craniotomy, which can be performed through a variety of approaches, including the keyhole craniotomy.
Learn more about brain tumor surgery and recovery.
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Treatment For Brain Metastases
Various treatment options are available for the management of brain metastases. The treatment strategy depends upon the stage at which cancer is diagnosed as well as on the number of sites of metastasis. Further the treatment should also be different for rapidly spreading cancer and slow spreading cancer. Brain metastasis is generally considered as incurable disease and thus the treatment is done to increase the life of the patient and for improving the quality of life. Following are the various treatment options available to the oncologists for treating brain metastases:
Chemotherapy. Cancer cells are rapidly dividing cells. Chemotherapy drugs are the drugs used to kill the cancer cells. Chemotherapy is the mainstay treatment in the management of the cancer however things are different when it comes to treating brain tumor. Brain is surrounded by blood brain barrier which allows only specific ingredients to pass through it. Thus, in brain tumor, the chemotherapeutic drugs are not able to pass this barrier in required concentration. Chemotherapy is generally not used in brain metastases.
Surgery. Surgery is considered as the most effective method for brain metastases, but it also has certain limitations. The brain surgery has high risk and complexity. Further, even after the brain surgery, the tumor may not be completely removed either due to non-reachability to the site or due to its attachment to vital nerve.
Prognosis Following The Use Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine In Women Diagnosed With Breast Cancer
This analysis, by Saquib et al, was a secondary analysis of the Womens Healthy Eating and Living study. It looked at 2562 breast cancer survivors and surveyed for rejection of systemic treatment and use of CAM following surgical resection. All women had to be aged 18-70 and had operable Stage I-IIIa breast cancer. In this group, 177 women were identified who declined systemic treatment. 80% of this group used CAM. Compared to women that took chemotherapy, women that declined systemic treatment had a 90% greater risk of an additional breast cancer event, and the risk of death increased by 70%. CAM use had no effect on this finding. In addition, the lack of effect was consistent between high supplement users and low supplement users. The authors concluded that women that decline systemic treatment are at greater risk for subsequent recurrence and death due to breast cancer. The use of CAM had no measurable effect on the recurrence of breast cancer or on the risk of subsequent death.
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Metastatic Brain Cancer Treatment
It is important to know that metastatic brain tumors are often treatable, and can be well-controlled. Generally, the faster you start treatment, the better the chances of killing or controlling the disease.
The treatment options for brain metastases may include:
- Clinical trials
In many cases, surgery or radiation therapy can improve or entirely get rid of symptoms. Read more about brain tumor treatment.
Survival Benefits Vs Quality Of Life
Sometimes the survival benefits of cancer treatment may be small. For example, if a healthcare provider feels that a particular chemotherapy regimen can extend your life by a few weeks but may cause potentially debilitating side effects, you may decide that the consequences of treatment outweigh the benefits. And that’s a perfectly reasonable and fair choice.
But it is also important to understand that there are many myths about lung cancer that may be skewing your perspective. One is that people reach a certain age when they are “too old” for lung cancer treatment. In actuality, older people often do well with treatments, particularly newer immunotherapy drugs called checkpoint inhibitors that may be more tolerable than traditional chemotherapy drugs.
Similarly, targeted therapies, which directly target cancer cells and leave normal cells untouched, generally have milder effects than some chemotherapy drugs.
It is also important to acknowledge that chemotherapy regimens used today are nowhere near as problematic as those of the past. For example, they cause less treatment-induced nausea, vomiting, and fatigue.
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Magnetic Resonance Imaging Postrecurrence Treatment And Outcome
MRIs were performed every 2 months, starting after the left temporoparietal craniotomy in July 2006 until disease recurrence in late December 2011 . MRI results from 22 December 2011 showed a previously unseen area of nodular enhancement measuring up to 4 mm in the left posterior cingulum. Apart from the radiological signs of recurrence, the patient also presented with clinical deterioration of increased memory loss, worsening vision, decreased motor ability and a shuffling gait. After recurrence, the patient was switched to metronomic doses of temozolomide , which meant a low-dose intake every day for 6 weeks with 2-week gaps in between the 6-week cycles. The patient was also treated with fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery in February 2012 and with Avastin .
After initial evidence of recurrence, a follow-up MRI in early January 2012 showed that the nodular enhanced area increased in size to 7 mm .F). Another MRI in April 2012 showed that the nodule had decreased in size to 23 mm, suggesting an initially favorable response to the stereotactic radiosurgery and chemotherapy regimen . Another MRI in July 2012, however, showed an enlargement of a left-sided heterogeneous-enhancing mass within the left cingulum and contiguous genu of the corpus callosum. On 12 September 2012, MRI results showed a continued increase in tumor size in the left medial parietal lobe with extension across the midline within the splenium of the corpus callosum.
