RE-IRRADIATION THERAPY FOR RECURRENT BRAIN TUMORS

Authors: 

DOI:  https://www.doi.org/10.31917/1903428

Aim. According to the information provided in the Medline system to assess the possibility and effectiveness of repeated courses of radiation therapy for relapses of the most common brain tumors in children and adults.


Material and methods. The analysis of information available in the system Medline, devoted to the analysis of the effectiveness and methods of re-radiation therapy in relapses of medulloblastoma, ependymoma, gliomas and brain stem tumors in childhood and adults.


Results. It is shown that re-irradiation therapy in an independent version or in combination with surgery and chemotherapy for relapses of brain tumors in most cases can improve the quality of life and increase its duration. The resistance of the effect mainly depends on the degree of malignancy of the tumor. The achieved positive effect allows to ignore the hypothetical danger of radiation damage before the risk of progression of the tumor. Tactics of treatment of relapses should be selected individually for each patient, taking into account the characteristics of the tumor, its prevalence, the patient’s condition and life expectancy.


Conclusion. Radiation therapy is currently one of the most realistic means of helping patients with relapses of brain tumors after previous treatment.