Is Chemotherapy Effective for Brain Metastases? Chapter 3 — Brain Metastases: A Documentary

Описание: This chapter explains why chemotherapy isn't always the best option for brain cancer.

Watch the entire documentary from the beginning here:    • Brain Metastases: A Documentary | How Brai...  

Chemotherapy is a typical treatment for metastatic cancer. The goal of chemotherapy drugs is to kill the cancer all over the body.

The brain, however, is protected by the blood-brain barrier. It is a mechanism that filters out toxins, preventing them from reaching the brain. Chemotherapy drugs can also be filtered out, meaning they may not reach the tumors in the brain.

Because of the blood brain barrier, tumors in the brain are often treated differently than tumors in the rest of the body. Usually either surgery or radiation therapy (or a combination of both) are chosen to treat brain metastases.

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Video Transcript:

Orin Bloch, MD: Typically when you’re diagnosed with metastatic cancer or cancer that’s spreading throughout your body, you’re put on a systemic chemotherapy and this drug is supposed to kill the cancer all over your body wherever it is. But those drugs don’t get into the brain because of the blood-brain barrier.

David Andrews, MD: You want a cancer drug to have a significant impact and if only a fraction of it gets through because of the blood-brain barrier, it makes chemotherapy much more challenging.

OB: And so, we have to treat the tumors in the brain as completely separate from the tumors everywhere else in the body.

DA: So the tools that we have before us to treat brain metastases are radiation and surgery.

Douglas Kondziolka, MD: In certain types of situations, certain research protocols, drug therapies are being evaluated and tested. We hope that any drug therapies that are being received are providing benefit to the body, particularly with the goal of preventing new tumors from coming in the future.

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Interested in learning more? See our other chapters below that address many questions regarding brain metastases:

What are brain metastases?    • What are Brain Metastases? Chapter 1 — Bra...  

How do brain metastases develop and what causes them?    • What Causes Brain Metastases? Chapter 2 — ...  

What is Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (WBRT) and how is it used to treat brain metastases?    • What is Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (WBR...  

What is stereotactic radiosurgery?    • What is Stereotactic Radiosurgery? Chapter...  

What is the Gamma Knife?    • What is the Gamma Knife? Chapter 6 — Brain...  

What is a linear accelerator and how does it work?    • What is a Linear Accelerator? Chapter 7 — ...  

Frame-based vs. frameless radiosurgery. What’s the difference and how does it impact the patient and treatment?    • How are Patients Immobilized During Radiat...  

How does Cyberknife technology treat brain tumors?    • What is the CyberKnife? Chapter 9 — Brain ...  

What is a multileaf collimator and what role does it play in radiosurgery?    • What is Shaped Beam Radiosurgery? Chapter ...  

What if a patient has more than one brain metastases? How are they treated?    • Can Multiple Tumors Be Treated at the Same...  

Some radiosurgery treatments can be completed in just one visit. Why are multiple treatments (known as fractions) sometimes necessary?    • When is Radiosurgery Performed More than O...  

If it can harm the patient, why is Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (WBRT) still done?    • Why is Whole Brain Radiation Therapy Still...  

What does “Cancer is being treated as a chronic illness" mean? How do brain metastases patients maintain their quality of life?    • What Happens After Radiosurgery? Chapter 1...  

Why is surgery sometimes necessary to treat brain metastases?    • When is Surgery Recommended? Chapter 15 — ...  

How do I choose the best care team for treating my brain metastases?    • How to Choose the Best Radiosurgery Treatm...  

What is the future outlook a brain metastases diagnosis?    • What is the Future of Brain Metastases Tre...