Brain metastases, also known as metastatic brain cancer, are a type of cancer that spreads to the brain from another part of the body. Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer that spreads to the brain, but it can also come from the colon, prostate, kidneys, skin, and breasts. Brain metastases are an aggressive and dangerous form of cancer because they form tumours and put pressure on the brain, resulting in painful and debilitating symptoms.
Because of the dangers involved with these types of brain tumours, it is important to have them diagnosed and treated early. The longer brain metastases go untreated, the more likely they are to grow and spread, making them nearly impossible to cure. Therefore, the best treatment for your condition will depend on the size, location, and number of brain tumours you have, as well as how advanced they are.
Having surgery to remove the tumours is by far the best treatment option for brain metastases. Surgery is performed under general anaesthesia and involves a surgeon cutting the head open to view and extract tumours. It is effective with one or more tumours, but only if the cancer remains localized to the brain.
Once it spreads to other parts of the body, brain surgery is less effective at curing cancer. It is, however, a good option if one or more tumours are putting pressure on the brain and you need the pressure removed. If you catch the cancer early enough, surgery may be effective at removing all of it in one operation. Oftentimes, however, surgery is used in conjunction with other treatments to eradicate the cancer fully.
Chemotherapy is another common treatment for nearly all forms of cancer, including brain metastases. Chemotherapy consists of medications that enter parts of the body that have cancer and kill both healthy and cancerous cells in the area. However, because traditional chemotherapy medications cannot cross the brain-blood barrier, chemotherapy medications for brain metastases require a more targeted approach.
In addition to being able to cross into the brain and kill cancer cells, targeted chemotherapy also causes less damage to healthy parts of the brain. Therefore, it is a safer and more comprehensive treatment than traditional chemotherapy. Targeted chemotherapy is often used before surgery to shrink tumours or after surgery to ensure that no cancer is left behind.
Radiation therapy, which consists of high-energy radiation beams, is often used in conjunction with chemotherapy. There are several different types of radiation therapy treatments you can use to treat brain metastases. Whole-brain radiation is used when there are multiple tumours, stereotactic radiation consists of extra-powerful radiation that targets a single tumour and proton therapy is used to treat metastatic brain tumours.
Regardless of what type of radiation therapy you choose, it is often combined with chemotherapy and used before or after surgery.
On its own, the body’s immune system is unable to fight and kill cancer cells. However, with enough of a boost, the immune system can be weaponized to fight cancer. To do this, your doctor may prescribe you medications. These medications strengthen the immune system and help it identify and break down cancer cells to kill them.
The key to treating and curing brain metastases is to have them diagnosed early and treated aggressively. Surgery is the best way to cure brain metastases completely, but only if the tumours haven’t spread or multiplied. When this happens, surgery is combined with chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy. If brain metastases, which have already spread to the brain from somewhere else, metastasize further, it is extremely difficult to cure.