Hi,
Making estimates for outcomes for brain tumors is dependent on several factors.
Is the tumor is causing symptoms like headache or is producing deficits by altering normal function of
particular areas of brain? When there are symptoms, surgery would be contemplated.
Does the tumor appear aggressive or slow-growing based on the imaging (this is usually an MRI or a CT)? if it
appears slow-growing, observation could be an option.
Does the specific location allow surgical resection? If it is in the left temporal lobe, this seems
accessible.
If all we know is size, then the impact would be in the choice of treatment options. Preferably, resection is
the treatment of choice.
The overall outcome would also depend on whether it is cancer or not.
For cancers, those that are primary cancers do better than those that are metastases from another primary.
Patients with brain tumors from a primary in the lung would have life-expectancies of 6 months or so (some
surgical candidates who start with minimal symptoms have a good shot at hitting 8 months).
For a primary brain cancer like malignant meningioma, after complete resection – half of the these patients
sustain a recurrence (not yet death) within the first 5 years.
If it is not cancer, then we could reasonably expect cure with complete resection (if we consider one kind of
tumor, meningioma – more than half of patients have no recurrence at 10 years after surgery, about half reach
15 years without recurrence).
The best estimates would include the opinions of a team of doctors who specialize in the care of these
patients.
