Primary lymphoma of the brain

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Brain

Brain lymphoma; Cerebral lymphoma; Primary lymphoma of the central nervous system; Lymphoma - brain

The initial treatment is usually with corticosteroids. However, chemotherapy increases survival in many individuals up to 3-4 years, or longer. The chemotherapy is primarily high-dose methotrexate given intravenously or via the spinal cord.

Treatment of immunocompromised patients is not as successful, but is improving.

Radiation therapy used to be the main treatment for this lymphoma, but now is usually reserved for treating those patients in whom chemotherapy is not successful.

The survival of untreated primary brain lymphoma is under 2 months. Treated with chemotherapy, patients often survive 3-4 years or more. About 40% of patients are alive at 5 years. In general, older patients have a worse outlook than younger patients.

Possible complications include:

• Radiation side effects, including confusion, headaches, neurologic problems, and tissue death
• Chemotherapy side effects, including low blood counts
• Recurrence of the lymphoma

Review Date: 09/27/2006
Reviewed By: William Matsui, MD, Assistant Professor of Oncology, Division of Hematologic Malignancies, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.