What to do if brain tumor recurs? Timely treatment is important

Tumor is a disease that is extremely harmful to the human body, and brain tumor is one of them. Brain tumor is a malignant tumor disease that threatens people's physical and mental health. Even after professional treatment, there is still a possibility of recurrence. What should I do if my brain tumor recurs?

1: Dizziness is one of the manifestations of brain tumor recurrence: Dizziness caused by increased intracranial pressure is not a feeling of the outside world spinning, but a more common feeling of instability, with the possibility of falling when bending over.

2: Vomiting: Severe headaches are often preceded by nausea. Vomiting is caused by stimulation of the vagus nerve center in the medulla oblongata. Usually occurs at night or in the evening or early morning on an empty stomach or when the headache site changes. Vomiting is more common with infratentorial tumors than with supratentorial tumors. Vomiting is often the only symptom of a cerebellar tumor in children.

3: Headache: Direct compression or traction of local pain-sensitive structures by the tumor can cause local headaches with fixed locations, accompanied by tenderness outside the local skull. Headaches are usually paroxysmal, with a distending or throbbing pain, and often occur at night or in the early morning. As the tumor grows larger and becomes persistent, the headaches become more widespread as intracranial pressure increases. Therefore, this is also a manifestation of brain tumor recurrence.

1: Surgical treatment is currently the basic treatment method for intracranial tumors. When performing brain tumor surgery, the following principles should be considered: ① Physiological permission; ② Anatomical access; ③ Technical possibility; ④ More gains than losses, more benefits than harms. The widespread use of microsurgery in neurosurgery helps to remove pathological tissues that are difficult to identify with the naked eye and avoids damaging normal brain tissue. In recent years, surgical ultrasonic aspiration (CUSA) and CO2 laser have been used in the field of neurosurgery, creating new conditions for brain tumor resection. The surgery is done as follows:

2: Radiation therapy. In the comprehensive treatment of intracranial tumors, in addition to surgery, radiotherapy is a relatively effective treatment measure. More than half of intracranial tumors cannot be completely removed surgically. Postoperative radiotherapy can improve the efficacy, reduce recurrence or prolong life. Some patients who are suitable for radiotherapy may also receive radiotherapy as the first choice or as preoperative preparation. Different types of brain tumors have different sensitivities to radiation energy. Pituitary adenoma, intracranial invasion of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, craniopharyngioma, angioreticuloma, etc. are more or less sensitive and are suitable for radiotherapy. In recent years, due to the progress of radiotherapy, high-energy radiation and sensitization methods have been used. In the past, it was believed that some tumors that were insensitive to radiation could also be tried. In addition, there is a method of using stereotactic technology to implant special platinum needles containing radioactive isotopes into the tumor as a method of radiotherapy in brain tumor tissue, which has achieved certain results.

3: Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is part of the comprehensive treatment of intracranial tumors. However, many chemical drugs are highly toxic and cannot penetrate the blood-brain barrier, so they cannot reach effective concentrations, affecting the therapeutic effect. There are several routes of chemotherapy, including systemic administration, targeted intra-arterial infusion into the tumor, and local administration. Chlorhexidine nitrosourea (CCNU), carmustine (BCNU), bleomycin, vincristine, etc. are commonly used drugs. There are also several drugs combined with treatment, but the effects are limited.

CTC cell immunotherapy is also used for tumor recurrence. Biological therapy can stimulate the body's own immune protection and enhance the capacity of the immune system, thereby inhibiting or preventing tumor growth, metastasis and recurrence. It has significant therapeutic effects on patients after surgery or chemotherapy. It can eliminate residual tiny metastatic lesions, prevent the spread and recurrence of cancer cells, and enhance the body's immunity.