Introduction Primary and metastatic brain tumors are relatively common and occur in a variety of forms.
Metastases frequently originate from cancers of the breast or lung, and from melanomas.
Excision can provide a diagnosis, to remove the tumor, reduce cerebral edema, and to relieve raised intracranial pressure. For benign brain tumors surgery can be curative. Radiotherapy is widely used for residual, malignant, and infiltrating tumors. Various treatments have been proposed to prevent local tumor recurrence, including stereotactic radiosurgery boosts to the tumor field, brachytherapy and chemotherapy. Even when used in combination with radiotherapy, carmustine appears to provide little additional benefit in term of improved survival.