Treatment:

The condition is usually first treated with corticosteroids to control swelling and improve symptoms. However, chemotherapy may increase survival by 3 - 4 years, or longer. The chemotherapy is usually high doses of methotrexate given through a vein (intravenously) or a spinal tap (intrathecally).

Treating patients with weakened immune systems is not as successful, but it is improving.

Radiation therapy was once the main treatment for primary lymphoma of the brain. Now it is usually only given to patients who do not respond to chemotherapy.

Many patients receive more than one treatment. This combination therapy includes drugs such as temozolomide, rituximab, cytarabine, and etoposide.

Recently, younger patients have been treated with high doses of chemotherapy. After the chemotherapy, they have an autologous stem cell transplant.

Expectations (prognosis):

Without treatment, patients with primary brain lymphoma survive for less than 2 months. Patients who are treated with chemotherapy often survive 3 - 4 years or more.

About 40% of patients are alive at 5 years. In general, older patients have a worse outlook than younger patients.

Complications:

Possible complications include:

• Chemotherapy side effects, including low blood counts
• Radiation side effects, including confusion, headaches, nervous system (neurologic) problems, and tissue death
• Return (recurrence) of the lymphoma