Treatment

Schwannoma treatment depends on where the abnormal growth is located and whether it is causing pain or growing quickly. Treatment options include:

• Monitoring. Your doctor may suggest observing your condition over time. Observation may include regular checkups and a CT or MRI scan every few months to see if your tumor is growing.
• Surgery. An experienced peripheral nerve surgeon can remove the tumor if it is causing pain or growing quickly. Schwannoma surgery is done under general anesthesia. Depending on the location of the tumor, some patients can go home the day of surgery. Others may need to stay in the hospital for one or two days. Even after successful removal of the tumor during surgery, a tumor may recur.
• Radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is used to help control the tumor growth and improve your symptoms. It may be used in combination with surgery.
• Stereotactic radiosurgery. If the tumor is near vital nerves or blood vessels, a technique called stereotactic body radiation therapy may be used to limit damage to healthy tissue. With this technique, doctors deliver radiation precisely to a tumor without making an incision.