About Brain Tumors: Clinical Care For nearly all brain tumors,
surgical removal is commonly recommended provided this can be
done safely. When surgical removal is not possible, diagnosis is
often made by stereotactic needle biopsy. When a tumor regrows
and can be safely removed, sometimes a second surgical removal
will be recommended. For tumors that are well-localized in the
brain, conformal radiation is often recommended. This is
radiation delivered to the tumor and to a surrounding area of
brain, but avoiding the remainder of the brain to the extent
possible. When cancer has spread to the brain, whole-brain
radiation is sometimes recommended because multiple tumors may
be present throughout brain, including undetectable areas of
tumor. Conformal radiotherapy and whole-brain radiation are
generally delivered 5 days per week for 2-6 weeks. Stereotactic
radiosurgery radiation that is very precisely targeted to a
small area of brain and delivered all at once in a single day.
It is recommended less commonly tha