Treatment Options by Type of Adult Brain Tumor

Astrocytic Tumors
        Brain Stem Gliomas
        Pineal Astrocytic Tumors
        Pilocytic Astrocytomas
        Diffuse Astrocytomas
        Anaplastic Astrocytomas
        Glioblastomas
Oligodendroglial Tumors
Mixed Gliomas
Ependymal Tumors
Medulloblastomas
Pineal Parenchymal Tumors
Meningeal Tumors
Germ Cell Tumors
Craniopharyngiomas
Recurrent Brain Tumors
Metastatic Brain Tumors

A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.

Astrocytic Tumors

Brain Stem Gliomas

Treatment of brain stem gliomas may include the following:

• Radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult brain stem glioma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Pineal Astrocytic Tumors

Treatment of pineal astrocytic tumors may include the following:

• Surgery and radiation therapy. For high-grade tumors, chemotherapy may also be given.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult pineal gland astrocytoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Pilocytic Astrocytomas

Treatment of pilocytic astrocytomas may include the following:

• Surgery to remove the tumor. Radiation therapy may also be given if tumor remains after surgery.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult pilocytic astrocytoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Diffuse Astrocytomas

Treatment of diffuse astrocytomas may include the following:

• Surgery with or without radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult diffuse astrocytoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Anaplastic Astrocytomas

Treatment of anaplastic astrocytomas may include the following:

• Surgery and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy may also be given.
• A clinical trial of chemotherapy placed into the brain during surgery.
• A clinical trial of a new treatment added to standard treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult anaplastic astrocytoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Glioblastomas

Treatment of glioblastomas may include the following:

• Surgery and radiation therapy. Sometimes chemotherapy is also given.
• Chemotherapy placed into the brain during surgery.
• Radiation therapy given at the same time as chemotherapy.
• A clinical trial of a new treatment added to standard treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult glioblastoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Oligodendroglial Tumors

Treatment of oligodendrogliomas may include the following:

• Surgery with or without radiation therapy. Chemotherapy may also be given.

Treatment of anaplastic oligodendroglioma may include the following:

• Surgery followed by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy.
• A clinical trial of a new treatment added to standard treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult oligodendroglial tumors. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Mixed Gliomas

Treatment of mixed gliomas may include the following:

• Surgery and radiation therapy. Sometimes chemotherapy is also given.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult mixed glioma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Ependymal Tumors

Treatment of grade I and grade II ependymomas may include the following:

• Surgery to remove the tumor. Radiation therapy may also be given if tumor remains after surgery.

Treatment of grade III anaplastic ependymoma may include the following:

• Surgery and radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult ependymal tumors. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Medulloblastomas

Treatment of medulloblastomas may include the following:

• Surgery and radiation therapy to the brain and spine.
• A clinical trial of chemotherapy added to surgery and radiation therapy to the brain and spine

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult medulloblastoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Pineal Parenchymal Tumors

Treatment of pineal parenchymal tumors may include the following:

• For pineocytomas, surgery and radiation therapy.
• For pineoblastomas, surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult pineal parenchymal tumor. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Meningeal Tumors

Treatment of grade I meningiomas may include the following:

• Watchful waiting for tumors with no symptoms.
• Surgery to remove the tumor. Radiation therapy may also be given if tumor remains after surgery.
• Radiation therapy for tumors that cannot be removed by surgery.

Treatment of grade II and III meningioma and hemangiopericytoma may include the following:

• Surgery and radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult meningeal tumor. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Germ Cell Tumors

There is no standard treatment for germ cell tumors (germinoma, embryonal carcinoma, choriocarcinoma, and teratoma). Treatment depends on what the tumor cells look like under a microscope, the tumor markers, where the tumor is in the brain, and whether it can be removed by surgery.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult central nervous system germ cell tumor. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Craniopharyngiomas

Treatment of craniopharyngiomas may include the following:

• Surgery to completely remove the tumor.
• Surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, followed by radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with adult craniopharyngioma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Recurrent Brain Tumors

There is no standard treatment for recurrent brain tumors. Treatment depends on the patient's condition, the expected side effects of the treatment, where the tumor is in the brain, and whether the tumor can be removed by surgery. Treatment may include the following:

• Surgery to remove the tumor.
• Chemotherapy with drugs not used to treat the original tumor.
• Chemotherapy placed into the brain during surgery.
• Radiation therapy.
• A clinical trial of a new treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with recurrent adult brain tumor. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Metastatic Brain Tumors

Treatment of a single tumor that has spread to the brain from another part of the body may include the following:

• Radiation therapy to the whole brain.
• Stereotactic radiosurgery followed by radiation therapy to the whole brain.
• Surgery followed by radiation therapy to the whole brain. It is not known if surgery improves survival.

Treatment of more than one tumor that has spread to the brain from another part of the body may include the following:

• Radiation therapy to the whole brain.
• Stereotactic radiosurgery.
• Radiation therapy to the whole brain and stereotactic radiosurgery.
• Chemotherapy, if the primary tumor is one that responds to anticancer drugs.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with tumors metastatic to brain. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.