Coping With a Brain Cancer Diagnosis
- A 38-year-old Texas man endured a debilitating migraine for six days before discovering a cancerous brain tumor caused it. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a fast-growing and aggressive form of stage 4 brain cancer.
- To treat the tumor, he underwent a craniotomy — a surgical procedure where doctors remove part of the skull and resect the tumor. This option is typically pursued when the tumor causes symptoms like seizures, headaches, or neurological impairment.
- Glioblastomas are known for their rapid growth and invasiveness. The average survival rate with treatment is about 15 months, but without treatment, life expectancy drops to fewer than six months.
- The primary goal of brain tumor surgery is to safely remove as much of the tumor as possible while preserving essential brain functions. However, some tumors are located in delicate or inaccessible areas, making full resection difficult.
- Following surgery, patients often undergo radiation and chemotherapy to help eliminate remaining cancer cells that couldn’t be removed during the procedure.
- While the five-year survival rate stands at just 6%, long-term survivors typically require continuous treatment, as glioblastoma is rarely cured. Maintenance therapies — like Temozolomide — may be prescribed to help control recurrence.
- Even after aggressive treatment, the risk of tumor recurrence remains. Long-term care strategies focus on monitoring and managing this persistent threat with ongoing therapy and support.
“I had a headache for six days straight. I wasn’t eating. I was sleeping a lot and just not myself,” Newman told Today.com.
Read More
Branden and Joanna Newman
Dr. Kimberly Hoang, a board-certified neurosurgeon at Emory University School of Medicine, explained to SurvivorNet that a craniotomy is “a procedure to cut out a tumor” and is especially vital “if the tumor is causing symptoms or if it’s large.”
WATCH: The role of surgery in treating gliomas.
The couple’s world shifted again when doctors delivered the diagnosis of glioblastoma. On average, patients with this form of brain cancer survive 15 months with treatment—and less than six months without.
“I lost it,” Joanna admitted. She and Branden have been inseparable since their teenage years, high school sweethearts who’ve built a life grounded in mutual support.
Years earlier, Joanna faced her own health scare—a benign spinal cord tumor—and Branden stayed devotedly by her side. Now, it’s her turn to stand firm in support of his fight.
Doctors were able to remove 90% of Branden’s tumor during surgery. Though he initially experienced weakness and a lack of sensation on one side of his body, he has since made notable progress, regaining his ability to walk.
As summer unfolds, Branden will begin chemotherapy and radiation to target the remaining cancerous tissue. These treatments, often essential following surgery, aim to eliminate cells that couldn’t be removed surgically.
The road ahead may be daunting, but Branden is not walking it alone. Joanna’s unwavering love and support continue to be a cornerstone of his healing journey — proof that devotion can endure even the darkest diagnoses.
Helping Patients With Brain Cancer
Understanding Glioma Diagnosis and Prognosis: What Patients Should Know
Glioma diagnosis requires a multi-layered strategy combining clinical evaluation, advanced imaging, tissue analysis, and molecular testing. Each step plays a critical role in identifying the tumor and understanding how it affects the brain.
Early Observation & Symptom Tracking
When symptoms surface, clinicians look for hallmark signs commonly associated with gliomas:
- Persistent headaches
- Seizures
- Changes in cognition or behavior
- Speech or visual impairments
- Noticeable weight loss or physical weakening
- Shifts in personality, mood, or mental function
- Sensory disruptions in hearing, smell, or sight
- Difficulty with balance or coordination
- Variations in pulse and breathing patterns
Clinical Assessment & Differential Diagnosis
The diagnostic journey begins with a thorough patient history focused on how symptoms started and evolved. Since gliomas often mimic other neurological conditions, physicians must carefully rule out stroke, infection, and autoimmune disorders in this phase.
Neurological Examination
Once initial assessments are complete, the patient undergoes a detailed neurological exam. This evaluates:
- Cranial nerve response
- Muscle strength and coordination
- Sensory awareness
- Cognitive function and alertness
From there, imaging and pathology help paint a more complete picture, guiding next steps for treatment and care.
WATCH: Selecting the Right Chemotherapy for Glioma Patients.
After initial symptoms and neurological exams raise suspicion of a brain tumor, the next crucial step is undergoing an MRI. This imaging scan allows physicians to locate and assess the mass more precisely.
“If you’re suspected of having a tumor on imaging and our neurosurgeons think that tumor can come out, they will take a piece of that tumor out first and confirm in the operating room and with our pathologists that, in fact, what they are looking at is a tumor,” explains Dr. Alexandra Miller, Director of the Neuro-Oncologist Division at NYU Langone Health, in an interview with SurvivorNet.
“And if it is, they resect it at that time. It’s not usually a two-step procedure.”
However, when the tumor’s location or a patient’s health makes traditional surgery risky, doctors may opt for a stereotactic biopsy — a less invasive method to extract a tissue sample for evaluation.
Once collected, the sample undergoes microscopic examination and molecular testing. This analysis helps determine the tumor’s grade, giving doctors insight into how aggressive it is and informing treatment strategy.
According to the National Cancer Institute:
- With treatment, the average survival rate for glioblastoma is approximately 15 months
- Without treatment, that timeline drops to less than six months
- The five-year survival rate stands at 6 percent, and even for these patients, cancer remains a lifelong condition requiring ongoing chemotherapy and radiation
While these statistics are sobering, early detection and proactive treatment can extend both life expectancy and quality of life.
WATCH: Molecular testing for glioma patients
- Grade I-II gliomas – These are considered low-grade and tend to grow slowly. “The grade one is a very indolent, benign tumor that can be cured with surgery alone,” Dr. Henry Friedman, Deputy Director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke, tells SurvivorNet.
- Grade III gliomas—These are considered high-grade and tend to grow more rapidly. They are typically classified as malignant and require more aggressive treatment, which can include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.
- Grade IV gliomas – These are the most aggressive gliomas, which are locally aggressive and require treatment intensification. Glioblastomas are the most common grade IV glioma, “which is by far the most well-known and feared tumor in the lay population and, quite frankly, the medical population,” Dr. Friedman explains.
Inside Brain Tumor Surgery and Recovery: What Patients Can Expect
Surgery to remove a brain tumor is delicate by nature, and every movement inside the skull must balance precision with safety.
“We take off the bone overlaying the area we need to get to. We open the little envelope around the brain called the dura, and then we move through the brain tissue to get to where the tumor is to try to cut out as much as we can safely—without hurting the patient’s function or other important things like big blood vessels that can cause things like a stroke,” explains Dr. Hoang.
Following surgery, patients are closely monitored and often receive radiation to prevent tumor regrowth—particularly in cases where multiple tumors or metastatic disease are involved.
“Because many patients can have more than one brain tumor or metastasis from their cancer, it was not reasonable to think about surgery for them,” Dr. Hoang adds. “They also get radiation for those spots as well, to try to keep those tumors from growing or shrink them down.”
Treatment Advancements & the Challenge of the Blood-Brain Barrier
Chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapies have long been effective in treating cancer throughout the body. But the brain’s natural defense — the blood-brain barrier — makes these treatments less effective when it comes to brain tumors.
This barrier is “a network of blood vessels and tissue…made up of closely spaced cells and helps keep harmful substances from reaching the brain,” according to the National Cancer Institute.
Still, Dr. Hoang notes that recent advancements in drug design are beginning to improve treatment efficacy in the brain.
Understanding Side Effects of Brain Tumor Treatment
Side effects vary depending on the tumor’s size, location, and number of lesions present.
“Radiation treatment can cause swelling in the tumor as the tumor ‘dies,’ and the surrounding tissue can also become swollen as the treatment takes effect,” Dr. Krishanthan Vigneswaran, a neurosurgeon with UT Health Houston and Memorial Hermann tells SurvivorNet.
“This swelling can cause symptoms of headache, nausea, vomiting, and neurological loss of function…Surgical resection can also induce swelling, but this is more transient.”
Tumor location often determines what symptoms emerge:
“If it’s near your movement area, movement on one side of the body can be affected. If it’s near your speech area, your speech and the way you form words and express them can be affected,” Dr. Hoang explains.
She also notes brain surgery tends to be less painful than other types — like spinal or abdominal — due to fewer nerves in the surgical area.
Recovery & Long-Term Monitoring
After surgery, patients like Branden Newman continue with radiation treatment to target residual cancer cells and minimize recurrence.
“Because of this unique quality of metastatic brain disease, an oncology team will have to monitor a patient indefinitely during remission,” Dr. Vigneswaran says.
Many experts recommend joining a support group — especially one with people who’ve undergone similar procedures. Their lived experience can offer comfort and practical advice.
“Support groups can be incredibly helpful to patients and are commonly offered at major cancer centers and hospitals,” says Dr. Jennifer Moliterno, Chief of Neurosurgical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center.
Mental health professionals are also often part of the care team, helping patients manage the emotional effects of surgery, treatment, and recovery.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
ANSWER QUESTIONS
