How long can a brain tumor patient live?

More than 2,500 brain tumor patients are examined and treated each year at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital. “How long will the patient live?” is a question that patients and their families often ask doctors.

Brain tumors are common in departments such as Neurology, Neurosurgery, Oncology, Radiation Therapy, etc. Each year, 190,000 new primary brain tumor patients are diagnosed and treated in the United States.

More than 2,500 brain tumor patients are examined and treated each year at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital.

More than 688,000 Americans are currently living with a brain tumor, of which 130,000 are malignant and 550,000 are benign. Many cancer patients have brain metastases. About 20-40% of all cancers have brain metastases. The same number in Canada is 10,000 patients.

In Vietnam, we do not have official data on brain tumor diagnosis and the rate of patients with brain tumors each year. Viet Duc Friendship Hospital alone examines and treats more than 2,500 brain tumor patients each year.

Brain tumors are treatable. Many types of brain tumors are treated early, promptly, and properly, and patients can live, work, and function normally.

There are three main methods of treating brain tumors: surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Depending on each specific case, the doctor will decide which treatment method is most effective, or sometimes it is necessary to combine several methods together.

Brain tumors in children are different from those in adults. Children generally have longer survival times and 69% of children will survive after brain tumor treatment.

The doctor will consider the side effects of the treatment before deciding. Treatments with the fewest side effects will be preferred.

“How long will the patient live?” is a question that patients and their families with brain tumors often ask their doctors.

Answering this question, Associate Professor, Dr. Dong Van He, Deputy Director of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, Director of the Neurosurgery Center said that the answer is not the same for everyone.

Some brain tumor patients can live a normal healthy life and their life expectancy is not significantly reduced after brain tumor treatment. Others can live for a few more months or years. Some brain tumors grow very quickly, the tumor grows rapidly after a few weeks or months. Some other cases grow very slowly, increasing by 2 - 3 mm each year.

Brain tumors can recur after treatment, but there are also types that do not recur or do not grow larger after many years. Therefore, we must be examined, consulted and monitored for brain tumors continuously and regularly.

Survival time after brain tumor treatment depends on many factors such as: tumor type, patient age, location, size, treatment method...

In the United States, about 20% of patients with malignant brain tumors survive more than 5 years after treatment. In children, the 5-year survival rate for malignant brain tumors is as high as 72%.

Children under 3 years of age have shorter survival times after treatment than children aged 3-16 years. Among brain tumors, glioblastoma multiforme has the shortest survival times after surgery.

For meningioma, the patient can be completely cured if the tumor is benign, surgery is performed early and completely removed. The patient can live a normal life.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/benh-nhan-u-nao-co-the-song-bao-lau-d221521.html