Because of its nature, the brain cancer is often detected only after entering an advanced stage. If the pain in the head has peaked, there is a possibility, the cancer has spread to other parts of the body (metastasis). If it were so, cancer treatment becomes more complicated and risky.
"Therefore, people need to do early detection of brain cancer," advises Fielda Djuita, radiology specialist Hospital Mochtar Riady Comprehensive Cancer Centre Siloam Hospitals Semanggi, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Like most cancers, early diagnosis and treatment is key to recovery. Treatment of late husband's dance of cancer cells will spread and get into all the tissues of the brain and can eventually cause death.
Symptoms and risk factors
Brain cancer has no symptoms. Signs of brain cancer depend on the location of the cancer attack. Seizures, loss of balance, blurred vision, difficulty speaking, dizziness, loss of eyesight and hearing could be signs of symptoms of brain cancer.
Although not all the signs and symptoms typical of brain cancer, but you should be wary if often experience one or several disorders such as mentioned above.
Meanwhile, There are several factors that cause brain cancer risk. When the family history there has ever affected by this disease, then you have a risk.
In addition, continuous exposure of certain chemicals may increase cancer risk. A smoker is also exposed to higher risk of this disease than nonsmokers. Another risk factor is race. Brain cancer is more common in the white race.
Brain cancer treatment
With early detection, tumor progression toward malignant cancer cells can be prevented. Although, patients with advanced cancer is still likely to recover.
Now, with advanced medical equipment owned by a number of hospitals in the country, you no longer need medical treatment abroad, such as Singapore or China, two countries which has been the favorite destination of cancer patients from Indonesia.
Fielda Djuita explain Several hospitals in Indonesia already has a sophisticated infrastructure and facilities for cancer.
Some equipment, such as Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography (PET-CT) and radiation therapy equipment Linear Accelerator, can now be enjoyed by patients in hospitals nationwide. Two tools really support cancer disease management.
PET-CT machine is useful to increase accuracy of assessment of doctors in assessing the condition of a tumor is benign or malignant. In practice, the patient will be injected with liquid sugar (glucose) containing radiation within normal levels.
Subsequently, the patient is scanned with the PET-CT. As a result, site or location of a malignant tumor will glow brightly. Therefore, malignant tumor cells require energy sources such as glucose to mutate.
Now we know the location and nature of the tumor in the patient's body, medical experts who deal with cancer disease will be a discussion. Another aim was to find the right strategy for patients is it still necessary retest or extra action is needed because the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
In fact, continued Hendra, after going through the process of removal of any cancer, the patient still had to check through the PET-CT machine. The goal is to find out whether cancer cells or keloids have been lost from the body of the patient after surgery.
After PET-CT equipment, doctors can take action using the Linear Accelator. This tool serves to illuminate the body part that became the site of cancer. Irradiation performed for three minutes. During irradiation, the patient is not sedated.
Typically, said Fielda, pediatric patients with cancer will get about 25 times the radiation. While irradiating the adult brain cancer patients conducted by more than 30 times. "The doctor can combine between surgery with radiation when the cancer sites are soft and vital organs like the brain," he said.
Linear Accelator tool is quite important for cancer treatment. Therefore, the accuracy of this instrument illumination is high enough, so they can minimize brain cell death that is still healthy.
"There is a system called On Board Imaging (OBI). The system can increase accuracy because it can illuminate the site in position 360 degrees," said Fielda.
The size of tumor or cancer that can be illuminated with this tool, usually, in the top 3 centimeters (cm). If less than 3 cm, the appointment process can be performed with an instrument called a Gamma Knife. The goal is to remove the cancer as much as possible and minimize the risk of loss of brain function.