[suddenseizure]

I wouldn't call radiation non invasive, it ages the surrounding brain tissue a lot.

For people with faster growing tumors like GBM the tumor will usually kill them before the side effects of radiation hit.

But for people with slower growing tumors like oligodendroglioma, the side effects of radiation can force them to quit their job and go on disability, years before they actually die of the cancer.

The better we get at treating these tumors and extending patients' lives, the more important it will be to avoid radiation as long as possible to ensure that extra quantity of life also has quality.

[OJFord]

In medicine/surgery, 'invasive' is a bit of a term of art, meaning that implements physically enter the body. 'keyhole surgery' (a small incision with a scope and tiny tooling pushed through) for example is often described as 'minimally invasive'.

[FireBeyond]

Yes. Even placing stents during cardiac catheterization (PCIs or angioplasty) is 'minimally invasive' because typically access is achieved by the femoral artery and snaked up (the femoral comes "direct" from the heart, for all intents).

Yes, you blow up vessels with a balloon and leave a metal sheath in them, but as you say, minimally invasive, because you didn't crack the chest to do it.

[pknomad]

I didn't realize how aggressive GBM could be until watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSLPq010Q-o

That much growth in 4 months is eye watering.

> The better we get at treating these tumors and extending patients' lives, the more important it will be to avoid radiation as long as possible to ensure that extra quantity of life also has quality.

This is a good point.