Brain cancer treatment efficacy can now be predicted by test
10th Nov 2005, 15:34 GMT
I have a friend who has survived brain cancer, and has been cancer free for a few years. He still lives from MRI to MRI. There are types of brain cancer, however, that are much more lethal. Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of tumor which kills its patients quickly, and almost certainly. There are therapies that can be tried to treat this type of brain cancer, but they are invasive and risky. If the patient has little or no chance of survival anyway, these treatments can cause more damage than good. So, a new test has been developed to prevent the unnecessary initiation of these treatments. A test of brain tissue can detect whether patients are good candidates for the treatments, which can help them to live nearly a year longer than they would without the treatment. However, the test can also spare those for whom the toxic treatments would only intensify suffering. Read Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
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