Surviving brain tumour treatment is a much-needed relief after the stressful and painful process. You are not out of the woods yet, however, and long-term brain tumour management includes regular scanning. These brain scans show how your brain is doing post-treatment and help your doctors determine if your tumour went away and came back, as well as check if it has changed and there may be signs of a growing tumour.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to create a monitoring schedule. The type of tumour, the grade of the tumour, which treatment options you went with, as well as your overall health, are all factors that help to create your individualized schedule.

Why Do I Have To Have Scans?

Different brain tumours can have different behaviours. Some tumours can take years to start showing growth, while other tumours can start growing almost immediately after treatment.

If you are monitored regularly, it allows doctors to intervene in a timely manner if they start to identify growth. If your brain tumour is behaving in a post-treatment manner that is not of concern, then having regular scans is not an indication that you need treatment again. Quite the contrary, brain scans can be used to determine that your treatment was successful and that the brain tumour is behaving as expected.

Brain scans require a specialist team to decide the timing of follow-ups. MRIs are the preferred method bc they capture the brain and can show discrepancies over time.

There are instances in which MRIs can be done in a relatively short amount of time post-treatment to create another baseline. These instances can be follow-up intervals on the order of a few months.

After scans remain stable, there is a natural tendency to increase the amount of time between scans. Not infrequently, long-term, if not permanent, scans can be warranted.

There are a number of instances that impact the timing of long-term, if not permanent, scans. The instance of an individual with a slow-growing tumour can differ from the instance of an individual with a faster-growing or more aggressive tumour.

What Statistics Impact the Monitoring Schedule?

The above-mentioned factors are not the only things taken into account. There can be a number of factors.

Type of Tumour, Grade of Tumour

The type and grade of the tumour dictate how much of a risk the tumour is. If the tumour is of a higher grade, the risk of the tumour returning or growing quickly is possible, and scanning will be more frequent.

If the grade is low, scanning can occur less frequently; however, long-term scans are of equal importance.

Type of Treatment

The treatment of an individual can also impact monitoring.

Surgery of the tumour can leave an area requiring an MRI to be done in order to see if the tumour remains. Radiation of the tumour can require an MRI or other type of scan to differentiate treatment-expected changes versus tumour growth.

Where Is The Tumour?

The location of the tumour can affect both the symptoms and the treatment. A tumour located close to parts of the body that control movement, speech and vision would need to be monitored.

Other Health Factors

How old someone is, their health, the other health conditions a person has, and how the person heals can affect how a person is monitored.

What Should I Report?

Patients should not wait for a scheduled scan if new or worse symptoms occur.

The following are symptoms that should be reported:

• Worsening or New headaches
• Weakness or Numbness
• Changes in Vision
• Difficulty Speaking
• Difficulty with Balance
• Changes in concentration
• Changes Behavior
• Changes in Memory
• Seizures
• Changes in Personality
• Vomiting
• Nausea

Although these symptoms can indicate a tumour has returned, they are usually caused by something else, including treatment side effects. Symptoms can also be caused by many other things, which is why these symptoms need to be reported to the treating team.

What is Follow-Up?

A follow-up can include talking about how a patient feels and answering any questions about new symptoms. It can also involve a neurological exam.

The exam can focus on checking various aspects of the brain. Movement and strength can be checked along with sensation, balance, coordination, vision and speech. Depending on the person’s history and the symptoms, a scan can be proposed.

The results can never be interpreted alone. Changes over time help doctors understand if an area needs further testing or has improved and become stable.

Long-Term Follow-Up Makes a Difference

It is important to watch for the return of a tumour, but long-term follow-up also controls the long-term effects of a tumour and its treatment on the individual and helps manage that individual’s quality of life.

There will be some patients who will require post-treatment rehabilitation, some will require alterations in their post-treatment medication, and some patients will require assistance for a variety of issues which may affect movement, memory, speech, and their activities of daily living.

Follow-up care makes professionals aware of these existing issues and allows them to be addressed.

At Royal Care Neurosciences, follow-up care is based on the type of tumour, the patient’s treatment history, the patient’s symptoms, and the patient’s health status. The goal is to monitor the patient’s recovery carefully while avoiding unnecessary tests or scans.

FAQs

1. How many scans will I need to have done in my lifetime after I have had a brain tumour removed?

Brain tumour follow-up/treatment plans differ significantly from patient to patient. The type of brain tumour, grade of tumour, treatment to date, and scan findings will formulate the plan for you.

2. I have had my brain tumour surgically removed, do I still have to worry about follow-up care?

Even if the surgery completely removed the brain tumour, follow-up care is still the best way for a health care professional to monitor the tumour returning and how the treatment is affecting you in the long term.

3. If I am experiencing the return of symptoms that I had before between scheduled scans, what do I do?

Make a call to your treating doctors and do not wait for the next scheduled appointment. You should not ignore symptoms like new or worsening seizures, weakness, speech problems, vision difficulties, or any headaches that are severe or do not go away.