Chemotherapy and other cancer drugs for brain tumours

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill tumour cells.

You may have chemotherapy:

• After surgery 
• Before, with or after radiotherapy

You may have a single chemotherapy drug or a combination of drugs. They are either given in tablet form or injected into your bloodstream. Often with a brain tumour you will have tablets to take at home.  

Your medical oncologist (doctor who specialises in using drugs to treat cancer) will decide the type, schedule and dose of your chemotherapy. 

Read more about chemotherapy and its side-effects.

Other cancer drugs

New drug treatments are being developed all the time. You may be offered a different treatment as part of a clinical trial. For example, bevacizumab (Avastin®) is a type of targeted therapy which may be helpful for some types of brain tumours.