Unlike many other brain tumors, glioblastoma progresses rapidly and therefore requires urgent therapeutic measures. Timely treatment of glioblastoma increases the chances of favourable outcome.
Is Glioblastoma Difficult to Treat?
The glioblastoma is a complex treatment task that requires new solutions.
The good news is that medicine is evolving. Nowadays, we are lucky to have the opportunities for early diagnosis making and various treatment methods. Currently, immuno-oncological drugs and different vaccines are being created for glioblastoma treatment. They are potentially able to stimulate the immune system to fight glioblastoma more efficiently.
Conventional Protocols of Glioblastoma Treatment
Today, specialists all over the world are doing their best so that such diagnoses as glioblastoma is no longer a death sentence for patients. Among the methods of treating neoplasms of the brain, the most common ones include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
Surgical removal is performed mainly to reduce the pressure of the tumor on the brain tissue. The surgical technique is selected depending on the location, size, and features of a tumor.
Chemotherapy is aimed at suppressing the growth of malignant cells and often complements surgery. Drugs are selected taking into account the cellular structure of the tumor, with options to be injected intravenously or directly into the tumor. Immunotherapy is usually used in conjunction with chemotherapy to reduce the suppression of the immune system.
Radiation therapy is an obligatory component of treatment when a malignant formation in the brain is detected, even after its surgical removal. Irradiation of the entire brain (remote irradiation) or of the tumor specifically (stereotactic radiotherapy) is used.
How is the Treatment Regimen Selected?
The stage at which the brain tumor was detected is important for the choice of treatment regimen and the prognosis of its success. Besides, the peculiarities of each clinical case require an individual approach to the choice of a treatment method. The therapeutic regimen is usually elaborated by an interdisciplinary medical team.
In most cases, therapy of glioblastoma implies an integrated approach, which consists of treating the malignant process with several treatments at once: surgical removal of the tumor, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
Which Treatment Method is the Most Effective?
The maximum efficacy is achieved through complex glioblastoma treatment. In some cases, only surgical removal of the tumor is required. In others, postoperative radiation treatment is performed, which can be combined with chemotherapy or targeted therapy. Some cases require palliative care that includes measures aimed at relieving the symptoms of cancer.
Are there any New Treatments for Glioblastoma?
Cancer pathologies are not understood fully. Luckily, the research on how to treat brain oncology, as one of the most complex tasks medicine faces, never stops.
The study conducted by researchers at McGill University, published on January 14, 2021, suggests that there is a cellular pathway that is capable of limiting the spread of brain tumors.
The mentioned pathway involves a protein Rab35, which is disrupted in many patients with glioblastoma multiforme due to persistent inflammation. Restoring the protein’s activity with the following alternation of the degradation of multiple cell surface receptors might be a new therapeutic option for this aggressive form of brain cancer.
How to Organize the Treatment During a Lockdown?
If you want to undergo the treatment abroad, but don’t know where to start, Booking Health can help you.
Booking Health deals with all the aspects of the treatment arrangement during the lockdown. You don’t need to do it alone. Booking Health can help you with:
- Communication with the chosen hospital
- Application for a medical visa or medical visa extension for yourself and an accompanying person
- Solving the issues with obtaining a medical visa, in case the embassy is closed or the request for a medical visa has been declined
- Booking tickets, hotels, and transfer
- Translation of your medical reports
- Having a medical interpreter by your side
And this is not even a full list of services Booking Health provides. Leave a request on the Booking Health website to find out more information about how your treatment will be organized.
