Mr Kitchen will join a BRSS panel session on Jan 23, which will focus on the treatment of large metastases. Here’s an overview of brain metastases treatment.
Amethyst Radiotherapy are proud to have sponsored the 9th Annual Meeting of the British Radiosurgery Society (BRSS), which took place in Birmingham on 23-24 January. Several members of our medical team took part in panel discussions, giving talks and chairing sessions.
On Thursday 23 January, Mr Kitchen joined the afternoon panel session, focusing on the treatment of large metastases.
Here’s a brief overview of brain metastases treatment.
When cancer cells spread from another part of the body to the brain, and a tumour or mass develops as a result, it’s referred to as brain metastases (or secondary brain cancer). Any type of cancer can spread to the brain, but it most often occurs with primary cancers of the lung, breast, bowel or kidney, according to Macmillan Cancer Support.
It is possible to treat, but not cure, secondary brain cancer. The type of treatment will be tailored to the size, location, and number of brain tumours. Other considerations include the type and size of the primary cancer, and if it has spread to any other parts of the body. The age and general health of the patient may also be taken into consideration.
Surgery may be used to remove a single large secondary brain tumour if the patient is a suitable candidate. If it is not possible to remove the whole tumour, or there are other smaller tumours present, another type of treatment may be required. Surgery is most often carried out to relieve pressure that is building up inside the skull.
Radiotherapy involves using radiation to destroy the cancer cells. The type of radiotherapy used to treat brain metastases will depend on the size, position, and number of tumours present. Whole brain radiotherapy may be used if there are multiple large tumours that might be putting other areas of the brain at risk.
In cases of secondary brain cancer involving smaller tumours, or one single tumour, the patient may be treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (sometimes also known as Gamma Knife surgery). Despite the name, this is not surgery in the traditional sense that involves making incisions into the brain.
It is carried out by targeting a precisely focused, high dose of radiation on the tumour cells only. Due to the high doses of radiation involved, it usually only requires one session of treatment. The highly accurate targeting also reduces the impact on the surrounding healthy brain tissue, minimising the risk of side effects.
In some cases, it may be appropriate to treat the patient with anti-cancer drugs such as chemotherapy or targeted therapies. Immunotherapy is increasingly used as a brain tumour treatment, which causes the immune system to attack the cancer cells.
Combination therapies for cancer treatment are an emerging field, so some treatments may be carried out as part of clinical trials.
Centres of Excellence for Stereotactic Radiosurgery treatment of complex Brain Tumours
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