If you have recently been diagnosed with a glioblastoma, you may be understandably shocked about the situation. Brain cancer is a complicated and often confusing condition that nobody wants to hear they have. However, even though that shocked and dismayed feeling is understandable and normal, you do not want to let those feelings keep you from gaining a better understanding about what it means to have a glioblastoma and what you can do about it going forward. Get to know some of the facts you should know if you have recently been diagnosed with a glioblastoma. Then, you can prepare yourself for what the future holds as soon as possible. 

Glioblastoma Is an Aggressive Form of Brain Cancer

The first thing you need to be aware of about glioblastoma is that it is a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer. This means that these tumors can grow quickly and can also quickly invade various areas of the brain. In other words, once you are diagnosed with a glioblastoma, there is no time to waste in developing a treatment plan and starting those treatments. The more aggressively you go after the cancer, the better odds you have in treatment success. 

Surgery Is Often a Major Part of Treatment

In most cases of glioblastoma, brain cancer specialists will recommend surgery. Surgery to remove the glioblastoma can be effective at reducing the size of the tumor and in slowing the rate of growth and invasion into healthy brain tissue.

However, it is important to know that surgery is not a cure-all for this type of cancer. Part of the problem with glioblastoma is the fact that this type of cancer always invades healthy brain tissue. This can mean that it is wrapped around and in vital parts of the brain that, if damaged in surgery, could leave a person unable to function at all. Because of this, surgery is utilized to try to get as much of the tumor as is safely possible. Then, other treatments are used to address the portions of the tumor that remain in the brain. 

Laser Treatments Can Help Shrink the Tumor

One of the follow-up treatment options used after surgery (or sometimes an alternative to surgery) for glioblastoma is a laser treatment. Laser treatments use concentrated energy from light creating heat. This heat is focused on the tumor cells in your brain. The doctors will drill a small hole in the skull so that the laser can directly target tumor cells rather than healthy brain cells.

Laser therapy works by using this heat energy to damage the structural integrity of cancer cells. These cells then die off and the body removes them naturally. Laser therapy can also be used along with other treatments to attack the glioblastoma from many angles. 

Knowing these facts about glioblastoma, you should contact an oncologist or a brain cancer center as soon as possible to get the help you need in fighting your cancer.