Surgical options for brain tumor treatment

Surgical intervention commonly is accepted as the first step in the diagnosis and treatment of the brain tumor patient. Technologic advances in the past 50 years have made the diagnosis, biopsy, and removal of tumors a safe primary therapy preceding radiation therapy, brachytherapy, and chemotherapy. The medical literature provides no simple conclusion regarding the amount of tumor that should be removed for the best surgical results in terms of the patient's long-term survival with minimal deficit.