What is Glioblastoma?
Glioblastoma is the most common primary brain cancer, or cancer that starts in the brain, with around 12,000 cases diagnosed in the United States each year. All glioblastomas are grade IV brain tumors, meaning they contain the most abnormal looking cells and are the most aggressive.
Glioblastoma develops from astrocytes, star-shaped brain cells that help protect the brain from diseases in the blood and provide the brain’s neurons with nutrients.
Astrocytes themselves are a type of glial cell. Glial cells supply nutrients to the brain and give the brain its physical structure. They also insulate neurons from each other and create a stable chemical environment in the brain.
About Glioblastoma:
Although glioblastoma can start anywhere in the brain, it most commonly forms in the frontal lobe and the temporal lobe. The frontal lobe is located near the forehead and plays important roles in speech, voluntary movement, behavior and memory. The temporal lobe sits toward the bottom of the brain and forms new memories, processes language, and processes input from the senses of hearing, sight, taste and touch.
There is currently no cure for glioblastoma. The median length of survival after a diagnosis is 15-18 months, while the disease’s five-year survival rate is around 10%. Though all glioblastomas recur, initial treatments may keep the tumor controlled for months or even years.
As glioblastoma grows, it forms microscopic branches that can spread into different parts of the brain. These branches makes it nearly impossible to remove the entire tumor with surgery. In addition, a single tumor contains many different types of cells, so a drug that works for some cells may not successfully treat the entire tumor.
Brain tumors in general are hard to treat, as well. When removing tumors in other parts of the body, surgeons often take out a small section of healthy tissue surrounding the tumor, referred to as a margin. They do this to remove cancer cells that are not visible to the naked eye. Removing healthy brain tissue is much more difficult, since tissue near a tumor may control essential functions, such as speech, language and movement. During brain surgery, neurosurgeons strive to remove as much of the tumor as possible without damaging the parts of the brain that control these functions.
Delivering medications to the brain is also difficult. The blood vessels for the central nervous system (CNS) are designed to stop diseases and toxins in the blood from reaching this area, which includes the brain and spinal cord. Known as the blood brain barrier, this feature protects the brain, but it also stops many drugs from getting to brain tumors.
Treatment Includes:
Our experts are exploring new radiation therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy strategies to fight this disease. Other trials are designed to improve patients’ quality of life and lessen the burden of the disease and its treatments.
Doctors have only identified a few risk factors for glioblastoma. The most significant is prior radiation to the head. People often receive radiation to the head to treat other cancers near the brain or cancers that have or may spread to the brain.
A few hereditary cancer syndromes are also connected to glioblastoma. These include Li Fraumeni syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1 and Turcot syndrome.
In addition, this cancer tends to develop more often in men, people age 50 or older, and Caucasians.
After learning they have a brain tumor, many people feel they must schedule surgery as soon as possible. However, most brain tumor patients, including those with glioblastoma, have time to research their options.
Neurosurgeons have shown, removing as much of the tumor as possible, known as maximal safe resection, during the first surgery leads to better survival for glioblastoma patients. Choosing the right hospital for your first surgery or treatment is one of the most important decisions you can make as a glioblastoma patient.
Why Choose Us?
Because this is a difficult cancer to treat, finding doctors with experience and expertise in treating glioblastoma is key. At ACH, we have experts in glioblastoma care, including top neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists and radiation oncologists who specialize in the central nervous system. In most cases, the experts at ACH are able to identify the unique characteristics of the patient’s glioblastoma on a molecular level. This information may support the creation of a personalized treatment plan tailored specifically to the patient’s disease.
We monitor the impact of the disease and its treatments on patients’ cognitive health. If needed, we can adjust treatments to improve patients’ quality of life and ability to function day-to-day.