Researchers have found that radiation and
chemotherapy may be shrinking patients’ brains, leading researchers to
search for new methods to treat brain tumors.
The study, to be
published in the Aug. 25 issue of the journal Neurology, is the first
to examine the effects of radiation and chemotherapy on the healthy
brain tissue of a brain tumor patient.
“It is well
known that whole brain radiation can have adverse, neurotoxic effects
and causes loss of brain volume in some individuals,” said Dr. Jorg
Dietrich, senior author of the paper who works in the Pappas Center for
Neuro-Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“This is the first prospective and longitudinal study to characterize
structural brain changes resulting from standard radiation and
chemotherapy in patients with malignant brain tumors. Further studies
with neuropsychological evaluation will be needed to characterize the
functional consequences of these structural changes.”
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