Re: What is a brain stem tumor in an adult male?

This question is difficult to answer directly since so many factors need to 
be considered. To get to the point there are many cases of people living 
healthy lives after tumors have been removed from the brain stem. Also, 
there are cases in which individuals have maintained a troubled life after 
such surgical procedures. 

Following is a brief description of the brain stem and its functions. I 
hope after reading this one will better understand the complexity of the 
brain stem and the fact that depending where damage occurs within the brain 
stem can make all the difference in the world. For detailed anatomical 
description of the brain, I recommend a classical text by Malcolm B. 
Carpenter titled HUMAN NEUROANATOMY. The publisher is The Williams & 
Wilkins Company. This text is very deep in neuroanatomical description- it 
is even a challenge for medical and graduate students

The brain stem is the region in the brain where the spinal cord connects to 
the ‘brain'. Comparatively speaking, this region serves many of the basic 
regulatory functions of the body. It is also the most ‘evolutionarily 
old' section of the brain. Many simple vertebrates (simple animals with 
back bones, like lizards and frogs) do not have a large frontal part of the 
brain for more complex tasks like reasoning and logic like in humans. 
However, the basic functions of the brain are served in the brain stem. 
Such functions consist of responding to changes in pH or oxygen content in 
the blood, regulation of respriation, and regulation of cardiovascular 
needs. The term brain stem is not all that informative since it can be 
divided into more refined regions which would then allow one to know better 
which particular functions might be impaired. For example the dorsal, caudal 
(towards the back of a human and down - towards the spinal cord) contains 
regions which can drive the respiratory motor centers in the more anterior 
sections of the brain stem. 

There is also a very interesting region within the brain stem referred to as 
the ‘reticular formation'. As noted above, this region is an ‘old region in 
human evolution'. It is found in all vertebrates and the functions of this 
region are not fully understood to this day. Higher regions of the brain 
refer to the cortex and cerebellum, which are minor in simpler animals. But 
it is known that the reticular formation can supress motor commands from 
being carried out. This is particulary true during sleep when one is 
dreaming. Studies have been conducted in cats and dogs where the reticular 
formation was damaged or parts were removed and during sleep the animals 
would get up and claw or look like they were attacking another animal that 
they might have been dreaming about. The animals appear to be still in a 
dream state when such actions occur (some researchers think that 
sleepwalking might be linked to this region of the brain in humans). Then 
animals would then go back to sleep just like normal. As a side note, 
people should realize that such comparative studies in animals do help 
researchers and physicians to better understand functions of the brain in 
humans such as which regions control breathing and cardiac function.

As one proceeds to the regions of the brain stem farther away from the 
spinal cord, but deeper into the brain, other functions of the body are 
regulated. So it really depends on the percise regions within the brain 
stem a tumor is located to the severity of problems that maybe associated 
with the tumor itself or by the removal of the tumor and surrounding 
tissue. 

So depending on how much brain tissue is removed and its location will 
determine the extent of functional loss in bodily processes. It could be 
mild to severe.

The other treatments refered to in the question (radiology treatments and 
chemo pills) I did not have an idea about so I asked a neurologist for 
input. The response was that treatments vary widely among different 
treament centers and the combination of chemo pills with radiological 
treatments will vary from patient to patient depending on the type of tumor 
and the rate of growth, size of tumor, and the person's overall health. 
This makes it almost impossible to generalize for the situation brought up 
in the question. Many factors would need to be considered which is probably 
being done by the physicians handling the case in question.

I hope this helps and if there needs to be a follow up for more information 
I will try my best to obtain it.


[Admin Note:  all I would add to Prof. Cooper's excellent answer is that 
if this is in regards to a specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact 
the physician/medical professional involved in the treatment.  I'm sure they'll 
be more than happy to provide more detailed, and specific, answers.  Best of 
luck. -- RJS]