In some cases, people with oligodendroglioma need to continue treatments, including chemotherapy or radiation, to keep the tumor from growing or spreading. These treatments may continue indefinitely. After oligodendroglioma treatment, you should follow up with your doctor throughout the rest of your life.
Full Answer
Can a low grade glioma stop growing?
Low-grade gliomas are cancers that develop in the brain and tend to be slow growing. Although people with these tumors are only rarely cured, most are able to maintain to work, attend school, and perform other tasks for a number of years.
Which therapy will stop or slow the growth of brain tumor?
Radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is the use of high-energy x-rays or other particles to destroy tumor cells. Doctors may use radiation therapy to slow or stop the growth of a brain tumor. It is typically given after surgery and possibly along with chemotherapy.
Can a low grade tumor be cured?
Most low-grade gliomas are both highly treatable and highly curable. The most common kind of low-grade glioma, called a pilocytic astrocytoma, has a cure rate over 90 percent.
What is the standard surgical of choice for low grade glioma?
Surgical Resection Surgery remains the mainstay of therapy for most low-grade gliomas. The best outcomes are associated with optimal surgical resection. One prospective study found a 5-year overall survival rate of 97% when the extent of resection exceeded 90%, vs 76% for tumors with lesser resection.
How can you prevent brain tumors from recurrence?
Complete removal of a meningioma and dura is the best way to avoid a recurrence. However, there is still a 24 to 32 percent chance that a meningioma will recur in 15 years, even when the original tumor was completely removed. In about 95 percent of recurrences, the new meningioma grows in the same spot as before.
Can you get rid of brain tumor without surgery?
Radiation therapy, also called radiotherapy, is the use of high-powered rays to damage cancer cells and stop them from growing. It is often used to destroy tumor tissue that cannot be removed with surgery or to kill cancer cells that may remain after surgery. Radiation therapy also is used when surgery is not possible.
Does low grade glioma come back after surgery?
Will a low grade glioma come back? In some cases, low grade gliomas, in particular Grade 2 gliomas, come back after surgery and treatment. This is called recurrent low grade glioma. To monitor for this, you will have regular imaging tests of your brain after treatment, and you will continue to follow up with our team.
How long does a low grade glioma take to grow?
How fast will a low grade glioma grow? Most LGG grow by 1—2% a year. Some people may have them for many years without being aware of them. The cause for a tumour is often unknown.
What is the survival rate for oligodendroglioma?
Oligodendroglioma Prognosis The relative 5-year survival rate for oligodendroglioma is 74.1% but know that many factors can affect prognosis. This includes the tumor grade and type, traits of the cancer, the person's age and health when diagnosed, and how they respond to treatment.
How is low grade glioma treated?
How can it be treated? Low grade gliomas are usually treated with a combination of surgery, observation, and radiation. If the tumor is located in an area where it is safe to remove, then the neurosurgeon will attempt to remove as much as possible.
What is the prognosis for low grade glioma?
Low grade glioma is a uniformly fatal disease of young adults (mean age 41 years) with survival averaging approximately 7 years. Although low grade glioma patients have better survival than patients with high grade (WHO grade III/IV) glioma, all low grade gliomas eventually progress to high grade glioma and death.
Is a low grade glioma benign or malignant?
Low grade gliomas are benign (non-cancerous) tumours (grade I or II) that develop from brain cells called astrocytes.
What is the treatment for oligodendroglioma?
The role of chemotherapy for the treatment of oligodendroglioma was well established by several studies using nitrosourea-based therapy . {re8} Most used procarbazine, lomustine (CCNU), and vincristine, a combination chemotherapy regimen (ie, PCV) developed by Levin and coworkers. [ 9] Patients with pure and mixed oligoastrocytic tumors, newly diagnosed, and recurrent mixed tumors responded to this therapy before receiving radiotherapy. Despite prolonged responses, most patients experience disease relapse and ultimately die of progressive disease. The median time for recurrence was at least 16 months in partial responders and at least 25 months in complete responders. Recurrent tumors are not cured by PCV, and the intensity of treatment may be limited by the bone marrow reserve. [ 10]
How long does it take for a patient to die from a progressive disease?
The median time for recurrence was at least 16 months in partial responders and at least 25 months in complete responders.
Can oligodendroglioma be treated with anticonvulsive therapy?
Because most patients either develop or present with seizures, anticonvulsive therapy is recommended once the patient is diagnosed with oligodendroglioma. See Brain Cancer Treatment Protocols for summarized information.
Location
These tumors can be found anywhere within the cerebral hemisphere of the brain, although the frontal and temporal lobes are the most common locations.
Symptoms
Because of their generally slow growth, oligodendrogliomas are often present for years before they are diagnosed. The most common symptoms are seizures, headaches, and personality changes. Other symptoms vary by location and size of the tumor.
Treatment
If the tumor is accessible, standard treatment for oligodendroglioma is surgical removal of as much of the tumor tissue as possible. Biopsy is typically performed on tumors that are not accessible to confirm the diagnosis and determine the grade of tumor.
Incidence
About 4% of primary brain tumors are oligodendrogliomas, representing about 10-15% of the gliomas. Only 6% of these tumors are found in infants and children. Most oligodendrogliomas occur in adults ages 50-60, and are found in men more often than women.
What are the prognostic factors for oligodendroglioma?
The prognosis for people with oligodendroglioma varies greatly. Factors that can affect prognosis include the tumor’s location and grade, and your age and health. Doctors can successfully treat many cases of oligodendroglioma.
What is oligodendroglioma?
Oligodendroglioma is a rare brain tumor that begin in a certain type of glial cells. Glial cells are glue-like cells that surround nerve cells and help them function. Your outcome depends on the tumor’s location and grade, and your age and health.
How long can anaplastic oligodendroglioma be present?
They can be present for years before causing symptoms. They are usually confined to nearby tissue only. Grade 3 (high grade) anaplastic oligodendroglioma: These tumors are malignant and can spread quickly to other areas of the central nervous system.
What tests can be done to confirm oligodendroglioma?
Doctors use several tests to confirm a diagnosis of oligodendroglioma. These tests include: Neurological exam: During a neurological exam, your doctor looks for signs of weakness in the body, or changes in your coordination, hearing, vision, and reflexes. These changes can help your doctor identify the part of your brain that the tumor affects.
What tests are used to determine the location of oligodendroglioma?
Imaging tests: CT scans and MRIs help doctors determine the size and location of the tumor. Biopsy: A doctor uses a needle to take a tissue sample from the tumor through a small hole in the skull. A laboratory examines the sample to confirm the diagnosis of oligodendroglioma.
Can you remove oligodendroglioma?
In some cases, it is not possible to remove the entire tumor through surgery alone. Radiation therapy: Cancer specialists called radiation oncologists use high doses of X-rays to destroy what remains of the tumor after surgery. People with oligodendroglioma do not usually have radiation before surgery.
Can you have more than one surgery for oligodendroglioma?
Sometimes people need more than one surgery to remove the whole tumor and ensure it does not return. Some people live symptom-free, active lives with these tumors. In some cases, people with oligodendroglioma need to continue treatments, including chemotherapy or radiation, to keep the tumor from growing or spreading.
What is the best treatment for oligodendrogliomas?
Surgery. Surgery is typically used for treating oligodendrogliomas, particularly if the tumor is low grade. However, surgery often doesn’t completely remove the tumor effectively, so there is a need to use other therapies following the surgery to avoid reoccurrence.
What is oligodendroglioma?
Overview. Oligodendroglioma is a rare tumor that occurs in the brain. It belongs to a group of brain tumors called gliomas. Gliomas are primary tumors. This means they have originated in the brain rather than spreading from elsewhere in the body. Around 3% of all brain tumors are oligodendrogliomas.
How long do people with oligodendrogliomas live?
As a general rule, people with grade II oligodendrogliomas are likely to live for around 12 years following diagnosis. People with grade III oligodendrogliomas are expected to live an average of 3.5 years. Do talk to your doctors. They will be able to give you a more individualized prognosis for your condition.
What do doctors decide on a tumor?
Your doctors will decide together with you what the best course of action is in your case. They will base their decisions upon a number of factors: your general health, the grade and location of your tumor, and the final diagnosis given by a neurosurgeon.
Why are there fewer clinical trials for cancer?
Unfortunately, there are fewer clinical trials for rare forms of cancer because they are harder to organize. When a research trial is too small, the results aren’t strong enough to prove that one type of treatment is better than another. So, getting enough people to participate is crucial to the success of a trial.
Do oligodendrogliomas increase in grade?
Like all other gliomas, oligodendrogliomas have a very high rate of recurrence and often gradually increase in grade over time. Recurrent tumors are often treated with more aggressive forms of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Last medically reviewed on January 3, 2018.
Can oligodendrogliomas be removed?
There are many treatment options available and oligodendrogliomas appear to respond well to treatment. It’s unusual to be able to completely remove the disease, but it’s entirely possible to prolong the life of someone with an oligodendroglioma.
What is an oligodendroglioma?
An oligodendroglioma is a type of brain tumour. It belongs to a group of tumours called gliomas. Gliomas are tumours that develop from the glial cells. Glial cells support nerve cells in the brain or spinal cord. Oligodendrogliomas develop from a type of glial cell called an oligodendrocyte. These cells make up the fatty covering of nerve cells.
What is the treatment for high grade cancer?
If surgery is possible, the surgeon will remove as much of the tumour as they can. After surgery, you will usually have radiotherapy or chemotherapy, or both . A combination of chemotherapy drugs may be used.
What to do if a tumor is not growing?
Treatment can cause side effects and some of these may be permanent. Active monitoring means regularly checking the tumour to find out if it is growing. Your doctor will also monitor your symptoms carefully. Instead of starting treatment, you may see your specialist doctor regularly to have scans. This can help your doctor know if and when to recommend treatment.
What are the grades of gliomas?
Usually gliomas are graded from 1 to 4, but there are only 2 grades for oligodendrogliomas: Grade 2 tu mours – these are low-grade, slow growing tumours. Grade 3 tumours – these are high-grade tumours that grow more quickly.
Can you have oligodendroglioma after surgery?
If you have a low-grade oligodendroglioma, you may be offered active monitoring after surgery, instead of further treatment. This means it may be possible to delay having further treatment until it is needed. If surgery is not possible, the main treatment is usually radiotherapy.
Do you need treatment for ogliodendroglioma?
You may need treatment for the symptoms of an ogliodendroglioma before you have any treatment for the tumour. You may also need your symptoms managed during your main treatment or for a while after it has finished.
Does oligodendroglioma spread to other parts of the body?
But, rarely, they start in the spinal cord. They do not spread to other parts of the body. This information is about oligodendroglioma in adults. For more information about oligodendroglioma in children, contact the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group.
What are the symptoms of oligodendrogliomas?
Common symptoms include seizures, headaches and changes in personality.
Where are oligodendrogliomas found?
Oligodendrogliomas can be found anywhere within the cerebral hemisphere of the brain including the spinal cord, although the frontal and temporal lobes are the most common locations. The majority of oligodendroglioma are located supratentorially (85%), with the frontal lobe being the most common location (50–65%) 1).
What is an oligoastrocytoma?
Oligoastrocytomas are tumors of mixed oligodendroglioma and astrocytoma cell populations, that have historically been variably reported depending on local practice. As of the 2016 update to the WHO classification of CNS tumors, to make the diagnosis genomic evidence of both astrocytic and oligodendroglial components will be required to make the diagnosis, and as such, they are likely to become rare 14).
How do you know if you have an oligodendroglioma?
Oligodendroglioma symptoms. Because of their generally slow growth, oligodendrogliomas are often present for years before they are diagnosed. The most common symptoms are seizures, headaches, and personality changes. Other symptoms vary by location and size of the tumor.
How many oligodendrogliomas are there in children?
Oligodendrogliomas are most likely to be diagnosed in adults, although they do occur in young children. Only 6% of these oligodendrogliomas are found in infants and children. Most oligodendrogliomas occur in adults ages 50-60, and are found in men more often than women.
What is a neoplastic oligodendrocyte?
Neoplastic oligodendrocytes appear as regular cells with spherical nuclei containing finely granular chromatin surrounded by a halo of cytoplasm “fried egg” appearance under the light microscope. Typically contains a delicate network of anastomosing capillaries giving it a so-called “chicken wire” appearance 11). These tumors are slowly growing.
Can you have surgery for oligodendroglioma?
You might have surgery if your low grade oligodendroglioma is large , or is causing symptoms. Your surgeon will try and remove as much of the tumor as possible. Oligodendrogliomas tend to grow into the brain tissue surrounding the main tumor. This makes it very difficult to remove the tumor completely.