Is radiation therapy the best first-line course of treatment for an inoperable low-grade astrocytoma in the left frontal lobe?
• My brother has GMB lV. Tumor was removed 7-3-07. He went thru 42 days of radiation and chemotherapy (Temodar). He has MRIs every 2 months. Dr. says all looks the same each time. He now takes thioguine for a few days, then 5 days of temodar (420mg), then accutane. The Dr. says there is necrosis in the original tumor site. I am worried that the scans won’t really show if the tumor is still gone or not because of the necrosis. Should I be? My brother also has headaches unless he is on steriods. He also takes Topamax I believe. The Dr. had him start taking that along with the steriods when his brain began to swell when he started his temodar a few months back. His head hurt so bad that he couldn’t stand it. He also had terrible vomiting and had to be air-lifted to the hospital. He weaned off the steriods about 2 weeks ago and almost immediately started having headaches again. He restarted the steriods and the headaches stopped. He has gained weight and can loose his temper and become VER
