Chemotherapy is the use of special anti-cancer drugs to destroy tumour cells. It is not used to treat all types of brain tumour but it can be used in some situations. For example, chemo can be given:
- following surgery to prevent a tumour returning
- to treat a brain tumour that has come back after treatment
- to treat a brain tumour when surgery is not possible
- to shrink a tumour so that surgery may be possible.
tell me more…
Not all types of brain tumour will respond to chemotherapy but it is used more often for certain ones. These include gliomas (tumours that start in the supporting (glial) cells of the brain). Types of glioma include astrocytomas, ependymomas and oligodendrogliomas. Chemo might also be used for people with medullablastoma or PNET (peripheral neuroectodermal tumour) as well as other less common types.
what about the drugs?
These are some of the main chemo drugs that can be used for brain tumours:
- carmustine
- carboplatin
- cisplatin
- lomustine
- procarbazine
- temozolomide.
Sometimes these drugs are given alone, or sometimes in combination.
Chemo can be given by injection into a vein (intravenously). This is usually through a central line an implantable port or a PICC line. Or it can be given in tablet form (procarbazine, lomustine and temozolomide are given this way).
A newer way to give chemo involves implantable wafers. The chemo is fixed inside a gel wafer that is placed in the area of the tumour (during an operation). The wafer then dissolves slowly over 2 or 3 weeks. As it does, the chemo is released into the brain slowly. This is mainly used for gliomas that have come back after treatment.
how about side effects?
Chemo can sometimes cause unpleasant side effects. These can usually be controlled with medicines. The main side effects are lowered resistance to infections so you may get more colds etc. You do have to be careful about infections, if you get one you have to have treatment as soon as possible because it can make you very unwell very quickly. Other side effects include feeling sick, hair loss, anaemia (which means that you will be tired and sometimes a bit short of breath), bruise more easily, sore mouth and/or taste changes and your kidneys may be affected (you won't feel this, but you will have blood tests to make sure that your kidneys are working ok and you will have a drip while you are having treatment to make sure you are getting enough fluids). Chemo can make you feel very tired. So it's important to listen to your body and to rest and take it easy when you feel low on energy.
You can find out ways of coping with the side effects in the deal with it section.
There are other much less common side effects that can sometimes occur with these drugs. Your medical team can tell you more.
