Medical management of patients with brain tumors

This review provides management recommendations for medical and neurologic problems in patients with brain tumors, including vasogenic edema, infections, seizures, prophylaxis and treatment of venous thromboembolism, drug interactions, cognitive and emotional problems, palliative symptom management, and long-term sequelae of brain tumors and their therapy.

Non-enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs are the preferred category of seizure medication for patients with brain tumors, and levetiracetam is emerging as the drug of choice. Select groups of patients, such as those with cortically based hemorrhagic melanoma metastases, may benefit from prophylactic antiepileptic drug use. Antiangiogenic agents can reduce the steroid requirement of patients with vasogenic edema. Patients with brain tumors remain at risk for infections from the perioperative period through many months after treatment, and steroids may mask signs of infection. Few studies have been done on management of common cognitive issues such as short-term memory deficits and fatigue, but memantine may help delay cognitive deficits in patients receiving whole-brain radiation therapy. Palliative care conversations should begin early in the course of treatment.

Meticulous medical management begins at diagnosis of brain tumors and continues through the active treatment course and into either palliative care strategies or management of long-term sequelae of treatment. During the active treatment phase, problems such as vasogenic edema, seizures, and venous thromboembolism predominate, whereas late complications include the continuing risk of infections; sequelae of radiation such as vascular disease, cavernous angiomas, and cognitive decline; and secondary tumors. Attention to symptom palliation is an important part of the neurologist's role throughout the course of a brain tumor patient's illness.