Adult Brain Tumor Treatment Information for Physicians

Important: This information is intended mainly for use by doctors and other health care professionals. If you have questions about this topic, you can ask your doctor, or call the Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).

MIXED GLIOMAS

These mixed glial tumors have a prognosis similar to that for anaplastic astrocytomas and can be treated as such.

Treatment options:[1]

Standard:

1. Surgery plus radiation therapy.[2]

2. Surgery plus radiation therapy plus chemotherapy.

Patients with brain tumors that are either infrequently curable or
unresectable should be considered candidates for clinical trials that
evaluate interstitial brachytherapy, radiosensitizers, hyperthermia, or
intraoperative radiation therapy in conjunction with external-beam radiation therapy to improve local control of the tumor and/or for studies that evaluate new drugs and biological response modifiers following radiation therapy.

1. Kyritsis AP, Yung WK, Bruner J, et al.: The treatment of anaplastic oligodendrogliomas and mixed gliomas. Neurosurgery 32(3): 365-371, 1993.
2. Shaw EG, Daumas-Duport C, Scheithauer BW, et al.: Radiation therapy in the management of low-grade supratentorial astrocytomas. Journal of Neurosurgery 70(6): 853-861, 1989.

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