What is glioblastoma multiforme?
Glioblastoma multiforme is the most malignant primary brain tumor. According to specialists in Neurosurgery, the causes that can originate it as well as the factors that can trigger it are unknown. There are also no risk factors.
Symptoms of glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor
This brain tumor may cause symptoms of intracranial hypertension, such as headache, nausea, vomiting and papillary edema, or neurological deficits, such as hemiplegia, loss of sensation, language disorders, reduction of the visual field, etc. It can also give rise to symptoms of brain irritation, in which case it would be referred to as epileptic seizures. Glioblastoma multiforme has vague boundaries and infiltrates normal brain tissue.
Treatment for glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor
The treatment of glioblastoma multiforme is total macroscopic resection -or as wide as possible-, taking into account the possible eloquent areas involved, so as not to cause irreversible sequelae that worsen the patient’s condition. It is preferable to leave a fragment of the tumor unresected rather than to cause a severe neurological deficit that would make the patient’s living conditions very poor.
Currently, when tumor removal surgery is performed, and given the difficulty in correctly identifying cancerous tissue, there are a series of tools that can facilitate differentiation between tumor tissue and healthy tissue. These are the surgical neuronavigator, intraoperative ultrasound, fluorescence imaging that enhances cancerous tissue, and intraoperative computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. In addition, we will be able to count on cortical mapping that will delimit the eloquent areas involved in the tumor area.
Postoperative period for glioblastoma multiforme
After surgery, the patient must receive radiotherapy and chemotherapy to extend the recurrence time as much as possible. It must be taken into account that glioblastoma multiforme is a brain tumor that will always reproduce, even if the tumor mass has been completely removed.
Survival of glioblastoma multiforme
Survival of this brain tumor ranges from approximately 3 to 18 months. If it reproduces, it can be re-intervened again, as long as the survival obtained up to that moment has been considerable.