2023-06-08 09:42:53
Every year some 3,500 cases of brain tumors are diagnosed in Spain. Advances in treatments have allowed improvements in survival and sequelae.
A woman visits this Tuesday the exhibition “Brain(s)” that is exhibited at the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB). EFE/ Enric Fontcuberta
He June 8 is International Brain Tumor Day. a pathology in which every year one more step is taken in the treatments as a whole.
In Spain, according to data from the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM), primary brain tumors have a low incidence (8.73 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in men and 5.41 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in women), representing a 2% of total cancer in adults.
However, brain tumors are, after leukemia, the second most detected type of cancer during the pediatric age (15% of all cancers in children).
On the occasion of this international day, SEOM highlights that advances in local treatments that have occurred in recent decades such as the neuroimaging surgical techniquesthe radiotherapy or the systemic treatmenthave minimized the sequelae and have increased survival five years after diagnosis from 24% to 35%, according to data from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
An increase of 11% which, according to SEOM, “perhaps may seem insignificant year after year, but if we consider that more than 3,500 cases of these tumors are diagnosed in Spain every twelve months, the number of patients who benefit from improvements in treatment can be significant.”
In recent years, advances have allowed accurately describe the molecular mechanisms by which brain tumors are generated and grow. Thus, they have incorporated new markers when classifying tumors cerebral in order to define with greater pressure the possible subtypes and personalize the treatments.
Therefore, according to the I’m hereit is necessary that all progress, no matter how small, show benefits for patients, because as the figures show small advancestaken together they are determinative.
Neurorehabilitation and neurophysiotherapy to improve motor dysfunctions
The Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) recalls that the objective of the treatment of brain tumors is not only to control the disease, it must also ensure that the people who suffer from them can get a better quality of life minimizing the impact of the symptoms among which stand out:
- behavioral disorders
- epileptic seizures
- vomiting
- visual disturbances
- Fever
- Fatigue and headache.
In addition, the SEN experts point out that at least 80% of patients with a brain tumor will present cognitive dysfunction78% motor dysfunction and 37% sphincter control dysfunction.
For this reason, it is important that neurorehabilitation and neurophysiotherapy focus on preventing possible complications and improving the motor skills and dysfunctions of patients.
However, to correctly plan all the patient’s therapeutic objectives, multidisciplinary care is necessary at the beginning of the process and after diagnosis.
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