What does the final stage look like?

Glioblastoma is a malignant tumor, which usually kills the patient. A cure is currently not possible – despite surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Ultimately, it is difficult to determine when the final stage is reached.

In most cases, the tumor grows again after the operation (recurrence). This is often no longer operable. Sometimes the tumor is already so large or unfavorably localized at the time of diagnosis that it is not even operable.

As a grade 4 tumor, glioblastoma is characterized by rapid growth. In the final stage, the tumor is therefore very large. However, there is only limited space in the bony skull.

The pressure on the brain increases. With increased intracranial pressure, patients then suffer from nausea and vomiting as well as severe headaches. Disturbances of consciousness up to coma are also possible.

The patients are often sleepy and confused. Due to the increasing intracranial pressure, there is also the danger that certain regions of the brain are trapped in the skull by too much pressure. If the respiratory center in the brain stem is affected, for example, this can lead to respiratory paralysis and death.

As with most terminal cancers, patients are often emaciated by the long duration of the disease. They feel flabby and exhausted, and may not even be able to get out of bed. One then tries to alleviate the suffering somewhat by prescribing strong painkillers to the patient.

Patients are also given medication for the nausea. Palliative medical care should be provided. Metastases spread the cancer throughout the body.

One also often hears the words the tumor has spread. It is called when the tumor has formed daughter tumors in another part of the body. Glioblastoma is a fast growing malignant brain tumor.

It grows infiltratively, i.e. it spreads both in the brain and in the meninges. The tumor cells are distributed throughout the entire central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) via the cerebrospinal fluid (liquor) and can repopulate everywhere. Outside the central nervous system, metastases rarely form.

Every cancer represents a significant break in the life of the affected person. The processing of the diagnosis of glioblastoma varies greatly from individual to individual, but this diagnosis alone is a massive psychological burden. The sudden confrontation with the fact that one’s life is finite changes most people.

Moreover, the personality is stored in the brain, especially in the front part of the brain, the so-called frontal lobe. Tumors that grow there can lead to organic changes in nature, as they displace the own brain tissue. Unfortunately, patients are usually aggressive and insulting for no reason. This is an extreme burden for the surrounding environment. Due to the increasing intracranial pressure in the final stage of the disease, patients are then mostly listless and tired.