Astrocytoma Treatment

Connor Soutter
The Brain
The brain consists of four lobes:
Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, and
Temporal. The Frontal Cortex is of
main concern for the treatment. The
Frontal cortex is where we make
our decisions and abstract
reasoning. The frontal cortex is also
located in the front of the brain,
behind the forehead (What is the
Pre Frontal Cortex). The PreFrontal Cortex is the most
complicated out of the lobes due to
its complicated functions.

Astrocytoma
A tumor can be described as
abnormal tissue that grows by
uncontrolled cell division
(Theodosopoulos). When a
tumor continuously divides it
can lead to death due to the
impairments of vital organs. An
Astrocytoma is a tumor in the
brain. They arise from
astrocytesstar-shaped cells
that make up the glue-like or
supportive tissue of the brain
(American Brain Tumor).

Soutter

Life

Hope

Treatment
To treat a tumor the doctor must know where the location of the tumor is and how much it has
spread in the brain. What my team and I have been trying to figure out a way we can remove
the tumor while preventing permanent damage to the patient. Our treatment consists of a 10week period of taking a prescribed medication to minimize the swelling of the tumor. We then
proceed with surgery to remove the tumor. The younger our patients are the better due to
plasticity. Plasticity refers to the extraordinary ability of the brain to modify its own structure
and function following changes within the body or in the external environment (Plasticity).

Recovery
Treatment (continued)
As discussed, plasticity will allow
patients to gain a full recovery
after surgery. We have picked the
best neurosurgeons in the world
from John Hopkins University.
These skilled surgeons have
performed countless brain
surgerys and there success rate is
beyond adequate. More than 90
percent of the patients who have
went through treatment have
made a full recovery with little to
no side effects. The treatment has
proved to be remarkable and could
potentially eliminate
chemotherapy and all other
hazardous cancer treatments.

After surgery, patients will have to spend a

few weeks in the hospital so they can be
monitored while recovering. Doctors and
nurses will make sure things such as vital
signs; EKGs and brain activity are all
normal. After a minimum of two weeks to
a maximum of a month is over the patient
will be discharged. Once the patient
returns home they will be put on anti
nausea medication and pain medication.
The patient should start seeing much more
improvement after about a month of
recovery. It will be recommended that the
patient see a physical therapist in order to
gain full strength. After about 4 months to
a year the patient should be 100 percent.