Giving radiation again to brain tumors that came back after past radiation
Original title: Reirradiation outcomes following salvage conventionally fractionated Gamma Knife stereotactic radiotherapy (SFGK) to recurrent primary non-glial brain tumors.
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.
Doctors looked back at people already treated, but it has not been tested in a trial.
The short version
Doctors checked how safe and helpful a second round of focused radiation was for brain tumors that grew back.
What was studied. Doctors looked back at people treated from 2019 to 2024 whose brain tumors grew back after radiation. They had 44 tumors, and most were meningiomas, not gliomas. Each person got a second round of radiation with a stereotactic radiosurgery: Radiation aimed at a small target, in one visit or a few. There is no cutting, despite the name. See the glossary machine, given in many small daily doses.
What they found. At 12 months, 91.0% of treated tumors had not grown. At 24 months, that was 75.1%. At 12 months, 96.2% of people were alive, and at 24 months, 83.2% were. Two people had serious damage to brain tissue from the radiation. One had serious bleeding in the brain.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: For some people whose tumor comes back after radiation, a second round may be an option. It seemed to keep many tumors from growing for a while. Serious side effects were not common in this group.
What it doesn't mean: This is not a cure. It was a small group, and doctors looked back at past records. It did not compare this treatment to other choices. It was not a trial. It covered tumors that are not gliomas, so it may not apply to every brain tumor. Ask your care team if this fits your case.
Source: PubMed, September 18, 2026 · Read the original
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