Question for OT Medical Experts regarding brain tumors

12-1

Take that to the bank.

OT medical non-expert chiming in:

Hey, if I lose the ability to remember nouns, gain random left arm movements, and smell sounds suddenly at least I ain't dying.

Cut it out.

Prayers sent regardless.

When in doubt cut it out.

Surgery is the best option for something that large I would think.

How did they grade the tumor if they haven't biopsied it? That doesn't make sense. Tumor grade is determined by a pathologist and that requires a tissue sample.

If there hasn't been a biopsy, then all they have are medical images (CT, MR). I don't think you can determine grade that way.

edit: I'm not a doctor, but I do have a direct role in treating brain tumors using radiation.

Obviously tons of risk depending on size, exact location, how vascular it is.
If he comes out with full function and it isn't malignant, he has a very good outlook (it is probably not benign).
The grade and type of tumor will determine the long term prognosis. Further radiation and/or Chemo also depends on what it is and how much of the tumor is removed.

quote:

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What are the risks with surgery to remove a golf ball sized grade 2 tumor from the right parietal lobe? Also, what's the long term outlook past surgery if it turns out to not be cancer? What if it is cancer?

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You also need to consider the risk of doing nothing. Even a benign, non-cancerous tumor can cause significant problems, including death. If it's really the size of a golf ball, then it's pretty damn big for a brain tumor. That's 4.3 cm across, or 1.7 inches. That's massive. We're talking 40 cc.

quote:

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I wish i could answer your questions but like i said earlier, I have no idea about any of this.

I did just get the call telling me they're done with surgery and from what I'm told all went well. They said the tumor was actually closer to the size of a baseball once they got it out. That's really all the details I have right now.

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Damn that's very large. I wish the best of luck to the patient.

It sounds like if the patient was in surgery, they probably took a biopsy at the beginning of the surgery and got the pathology report, which is how they found out it was grade 2. That makes sense. Determining grade during surgery is important because if it's higher grade, they'll usually try to be more aggressive in taking out more tissue to ensure they get everything. Since it was grade 2, the tumor was slower growing and the cells were closer to being normal. There's a good chance it's benign.

If they were able to get everything, then the prognosis could be good. It depends on the pathology, age of the patient, what kinds of problems he/she was experiencing (if there was already tissue damage to healthy structures then that would make the prognosis worse), and the specific outcome of the surgery (if they damaged any structures during the surgery, then naturally the prognosis could be worse).

Grade 2 is good news. I'll say that.

edit: but I want to put a caveat in here that I'm not involved in surgery, so take this with a grain of salt. Maybe someone involved in CNS surgery can chime in