Expert: Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. - 7/30/2010

Question
My mother was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor-all I was told was that it was deep in her brain and not operable at her age. No biopsy done for the same reason. We did Radiation for 5 weeks and the first MRI a week after radiation stopped did not show any change. Not better- not worse. She is taking mg of a steroid daily. Her balance is off and she is extremely tired. What effects can I expect.  It is now 3 weeks since her last treatment. She is on oxygen and is now "oxygen dependent" My oncologist has not been very forthcoming on the details and I would like to know what to expect.  Thank you

Answer
How big is her tumor? If this indeed is a primary malignant brain tumor (without any biopsy I can not be 100% sure) then her prognosis is indeed very bad. But the rapidity of the process is determined by 1. The GRADE of her lesion and 2. The size of her lesion. Without access to her brain scans (I presume that both CT & MRI brain scans have been done) and with no biopsy I have no idea of the grade of her tumor. The higher the grade the quicker the process will be. It is the same with the size, the bigger the worse. Your description indicates that her situation is bad. Based on the radiation treatment time she has received a full dose of radiation - around 5000 cGy/rad. It is not practical or possible to give more. If after a full dose there is no change that can hardly be a good sign either. The more she sleeps the closer to the end she will be. When she sleeps all the time her end will be near. I'm sorry I have nothing better to tell you!






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