Treatment > Future Possibilities
Computer-assisted techniques, endoscopic methods and microsurgical robots will allow surgical removal of tumors to be even less invasive than it is at present. Radiation sensitizers- drugs which are incorporated into tumor cells may increase the efficacy of lower doses of radiation and reducing the short and long term side effects of radiation therapy. Stereotactic methods will make the delivery of radiation therapy to a defined tumor volume more precise. Direct interstitial delivery systems for chemotherapy may increase the efficacy and reduce the side effects. In vitro testing methods of chemotherapeutic agents against living cells cultured from a tumor sample may allow physicians to select specific chemotherapy agents for a specific tumor. In theory, this is similar to antibiotic sensitivity testing in bacterial cultures when treating infections. These methods have been tried with only a few reporting success. However, new technological breakthroughs may improve the reliability of chemosensitivity testing method.
Immunotherapy trials in which conditioned "killer cells" - lymphocytes injected into a tumor selectively find and destroy tumor cells have shown modest improvements in patient survival. We are now investigating gene therapy for brain tumors. Here genetically engineered material is carried to a tumor cell by a viral vector which "infects" the tumor cell and transforms it into a normal cells, stops its ability to move or grow or even kills it.
Clearly, the cure of brain tumors will depend on a basic understanding of tumor cells at a molecular level. Studies of the genetic make-up of tumor cells will lead to a better understanding of intracellular and external mechanisms that determine the maturation, function, life and death of any cell. These investigations will allow us to manipulate the functions of any cell and will lead us to exciting new therapies for cancer in general and brain tumors in particular.