May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month. A brain tumor is a mass of abnormal cells in the brain. Whether benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous), brain tumors can significantly impact a person’s physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being. When a brain tumor affects communication and/or cognition, speech-language pathology (SLP) services may help. Keep reading to learn more about speech therapy for people with brain tumors.
Brain Tumor Stats from the National Brain Tumor Society:
- An estimated 700,000 Americans are living with a primary brain tumor (tumor that starts in the brain)
- Approximately 88,970 people will be diagnosed with a primary brain tumor in 2022
- 70,000-170,000 cancer patients are diagnosed with secondary brain tumors (metastatic brain tumor) each year
- Approximately 58% of brain tumors occur in females, 42% in males
- Approximately 71% of brain tumors are benign, 29% are malignant
- There are more than 100 types of primary brain tumors
Brain Tumors can affect Communication and Cognition
- According to the American Speech Language & Hearing Association (ASHA), “About 30%–50% of patients with primary brain tumors experience aphasia”. Aphasia is a language disorder that impacts an individual’s ability to express themselves and/or understand language (read our blog post for more information about aphasia).
- According to the American Brain Tumor Association, brain tumors can impact cognitive skills such as attention, memory, and other executive function skills such as planning, problem solving, organization, and decision making.
- The tumor itself can affect communication and cognition, but also any cancer treatment such as sugery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy
Speech Therapy for People with Brain Tumors
If someone notices changes in their communication and/or cognition after being diagnosed or treated for a brain tumor, they should reach out to a local SLP. Ideally, try to find an SLP who is also a Certified Brain Injury Specialist.
With regard to assessment, the SLP will do an initial evaluation to identify current strengths, needs, and goals. If surgery is planned, assessments can be done pre-operatively and post-operatively to determine any changes in the person’s abilities. In fact, in some cases an SLP will be present during surgery to assess language skills while the procedure is happening, in order to minimize post-operative language deficits.
With regard to treatment, ASHA completed a systematic review of research on cognitive rehabilitation for people with brain tumors. They concluded that, “despite being very challenging, patients and caregivers seem to be satisfied and believe that the training was very useful”. Therapy activities included focus on attention, memory (including use of a memory notebook), executive function skills such as problem solving, and training work-related skills. They also used virtual reality and computer training programs. If the patient has aphasia, an aphasia rehabilitation program may be a good fit. For patients with a poor prognosis in which further recovery is not expected, an SLP can help functional communication and use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies. In addition to providing cognitive-communication therapy for the patient, the SLP can also help train the family and/or caregivers to best support the patient.
Resources:
- National Brain Tumor Society
- Mayo Clinic – Brain Tumor Information
- American Brain Tumor Association
- ASHA – “Treating Cancer-Related Aphasia”
- Aphasia from Brain Tumor – Lingraphica
- Treatment of Cognitive Deficits in Brain Tumor Patients Research Article from 2019 by Coomans et al.