Treatment for<unk>  is primarily palliative, with the goals of therapy being reduction of symptoms and prolongation of life. However, in some patients, particularly younger, healthier patients, aggressive therapy consisting of open craniotomy with maximal excision, chemotherapy, and radiosurgical intervention (Gamma Knife therapy) may be attempted. Symptomatic care Symptomatic care should be given to all patients with<unk> , as they often cause severe, debilitating symptoms. Treatment consists mainly of: * Corticosteroids – Corticosteroid therapy is essential for all patients with<unk> , as it prevents development of cerebral edema, as well as treating other neurological symptoms such as headaches, cognitive dysfunction, and emesis. Dexamethasone is the corticosteroid of choice. Although neurological symptoms may improve within 24 to 72 hours of starting corticosteroids, cerebral edema may not improve for up to a week. In addition, patients may experience adverse side effects from these drugs, such as myopathy and opportunistic infections, which can be alleviated by decreasing the dose. * Anticonvulsants – Anticonvulsants should be used for patients with<unk>  who experience seizures, as there is a risk of status epilepticus and death. Newer generation anticonvulsants including Lamotrigine and Topiramate are recommended due to their relatively limited side effects. It is not recommended to prophylactically give anti-seizure medications when a seizure has not yet been experienced by a patient with<unk> . Radiotherapy Radiotherapy plays a critical role in the treatment of<unk> , and includes whole-brain irradiation, fractionated radiotherapy, and radiosurgery. Whole-brain irradiation is used as a primary treatment method in patients with multiple lesions and is also used alongside surgical resection when patients have single and accessible tumors. However, it often causes severe side effects, including radiation necrosis, dementia, toxic leukoencephalopathy, partial to complete hair loss, nausea, headaches, and otitis media. In children this treatment may cause mental retardation, psychiatric disturbances, and other neuropsychiatric effects. Results from a 2021 systematic review on radiation therapy for<unk>  found that despite much research on radiation therapy, there is little evidence to inform comparative effectiveness and such patient-centered outcomes as quality of life, functional status, or cognitive effects. Surgery<unk>  are often managed surgically if they are accessible. Surgical resection followed by stereotactic radiosurgery or whole-brain irradiation deliver superior survival compared to whole brain irradiation alone. Therefore, in patients with only one metastatic brain lesion and controlled or limited systemic disease, a life expectancy of at least 3 months and a good performance status might be expected. Chemotherapy Chemotherapy is rarely used for the treatment of<unk> , as chemotherapeutic agents penetrate the blood brain barrier poorly. However, some cancers such as lymphomas, small cell lung carcinomas (SCLC) and breast cancer may be highly chemosensitive and chemotherapy may be used to treat extracranial sites of metastatic disease in these cancers. The effectiveness and safety of using chemotherapy to treat a<unk>  that came from a SCLC is not clear. An experimental treatment for<unk>  is intrathecal chemotherapy, a technique in which a chemotherapeutic drug is delivered via intralumbar injection into the cerebrospinal fluid. Current research on the treatment of<unk>  includes creating new drug molecules to effectively target the blood-brain barrier and studying the relationship between tumors and various genes. In 2015, the United States FDA approved Alecensa (alectinib) for use in patients with a specific type of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; ALK-positive), a type of cancer which often<unk> es to the brain, whose condition worsened after use or were unable to take another medication, Xalkori (crizotinib). Immunotherapy Immunotherapy, for instance Anti-PD-1 alone or in combination with anti-CTLA-4, appears to be effective in some patients with<unk>  especially when these are asymptomatic, stable and not previously treated.
Brain metastasis
Brain abscess
Leptomeningeal cancer
Central nervous system cavernous hemangioma
Coma
Brainstem glioma
Subdural empyema
Brain tumor