Brain swelling from high blood pressure can look like tumor growth
Original title: Central-variant posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome mimicking tumor progression in a glioblastoma patient on bevacizumab: illustrative case.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This is one patient's case report, not a test of a new treatment.
The short version
New brain scan changes in one woman turned out not to be her tumor coming back.
What was studied. Doctors describe one patient. She was 36 and had a brain tumor called glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4. Grade 4 is the highest grade there is. The tumor grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, and then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary. She was getting a drug called bevacizumab: A drug that acts on the blood vessels a tumor builds. In brain tumors it is used mainly for two things. One is to control symptoms from swelling. The other is to cut down how much steroid someone needs. See the glossary after her tumor came back.
What they found. She got sick 6 weeks after her ninth bevacizumab: A drug that acts on the blood vessels a tumor builds. In brain tumors it is used mainly for two things. One is to control symptoms from swelling. The other is to cut down how much steroid someone needs. See the glossary cycle. She was less alert, had trouble walking, and her blood pressure had swung widely, from 90-200 mm Hg. Treating her blood pressure helped in days, and her scans looked almost normal at 5 months.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: New scan changes in someone on bevacizumab: A drug that acts on the blood vessels a tumor builds. In brain tumors it is used mainly for two things. One is to control symptoms from swelling. The other is to cut down how much steroid someone needs. See the glossary are not always the tumor growing. Blood pressure swings can cause brain swelling that looks similar. In this case the swelling went away with blood pressure care. Her doctors kept giving the drug while watching her blood pressure closely.
What it doesn't mean: This is a report about one person, not a study. It does not mean new scan changes are never tumor growth. It is not a new treatment and it is not a cure. Only your own care team can tell you what your scans show.
Source: PubMed, August 17, 2026 · Read the original
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