Key Points

• Radiation for meningioma is delivered in several different forms, including single-session stereotactic radiosurgery, fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, and proton therapy. 
• Radiation may be used as the first and only treatment for tumors that cannot be safely removed, or as follow-up treatment after surgery when tumor tissue remains or the tumor is high grade. 
• Eligibility to file a Depo-Provera lawsuit depends on documented use of the birth control shot and a confirmed meningioma diagnosis, not on whether a woman was treated with radiation or with brain surgery. 

Why It Matters

Many women diagnosed with a meningioma brain tumor after using Depo-Provera never have a craniotomy. Their tumor is treated with radiation instead, either because of where it sits, how large it is, or how much risk open surgery would carry. Those women often assume that a claim requires brain surgery, and they never call a lawyer. Radiation is a major medical treatment with real costs, real side effects, and years of follow-up imaging, and the women who receive it are covered by the same eligibility standard as everyone else. 

Radiation for Depo Shot Brain Tumors and Your Legal Claim

Women who were treated with radiation for a meningioma brain tumor after using the Depo-Provera birth control shot may be eligible to file a lawsuit and receive compensation. 

Lawsuits filed against Pfizer allege that the company failed to warn women and their doctors that prolonged use of medroxyprogesterone acetate, the active ingredient in the Depo shot, is linked to an increased risk of these tumors. The treatment a woman received afterward is part of the harm she suffered. 

If you or a loved one used Depo-Provera and were diagnosed with a meningioma, the birth control attorneys at Hissey Mulderig & Friend can help. Find out whether you qualify to take legal action or start your Depo-Provera claim today by calling our office toll-free at 1-866-806-8117. 

Why Doctors Use Radiation to Treat Meningioma

A meningioma is a tumor that forms in the meninges, the thin layers of protective tissue that surround the brain and spinal cord. Most meningioma brain tumors are benign, meaning they are not cancerous, and many grow slowly over years. The location and size of the tumor usually determine how dangerous a meningioma is and what treatment it requires. 

Radiation is used in the treatment of meningioma brain tumors in three main situations: 

1. It is used as the primary treatment when a tumor sits in a location that is difficult or dangerous to reach surgically, such as the skull base, the cavernous sinus, or the optic nerve sheath.  

2. It can be used after surgery when the neurosurgeon could not safely remove the entire tumor and residual tissue remains.  

3. It is also used when a tumor comes back after an earlier operation. 

Tumor grade matters as well. Benign, or WHO Grade I, meningiomas that are completely removed often require no radiation at all. Atypical and anaplastic tumors, which are graded by the World Health Organization system, carry higher recurrence rates, and radiation is frequently recommended after surgery to reduce the risk of regrowth. 

Stereotactic Radiosurgery: Gamma Knife and CyberKnife

Despite the name, stereotactic radiosurgery involves no incision. It delivers a high dose of precisely targeted radiation to the tumor from many angles in a single session or a small number of sessions.  

Gamma Knife uses fixed cobalt radiation sources. CyberKnife and similar linear accelerator systems deliver high-energy x-rays from a robotic arm. Most patients go home the same day as their surgery. 

This approach works best for smaller, well-defined tumors. The goal is tumor control rather than removal, meaning the tumor stops growing or shrinks over time but does not disappear from imaging. 

Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy

When a tumor is too large for a single high dose, or sits directly against the optic nerve, the brainstem, or another structure that cannot tolerate that dose, the same targeting technology is used to divide the treatment across multiple smaller sessions.  

Fractionated treatment typically runs daily over a period of days or weeks. Splitting the dose gives healthy tissue time to recover between sessions and lowers the risk of injury to nearby nerves. 

Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT, is an advanced form of external beam radiation. Computer-controlled devices shape each beam to the three-dimensional contour of the tumor and vary the strength of the beam across the treatment field, which allows different areas to receive different doses.  

IMRT is commonly used for irregularly shaped meningiomas, for larger tumors, and for atypical or anaplastic tumors after surgery. Treatment is usually given once a day, five days a week, over several weeks. 

Proton Therapy

Proton therapy uses charged particles rather than x-rays. Protons deposit most of their energy at the target and then stop, rather than continuing through healthy tissue on the far side of the tumor. That property can reduce the total radiation dose delivered to the surrounding brain, which matters most for tumors near the optic nerves, the pituitary gland, or the brainstem, and for younger patients facing decades of follow-up.  

Proton therapy is available at a limited number of centers, and treatment often requires travel and extended time away from home and work. 

Radiation After Surgery and for Recurrent Tumors

Meningiomas can return years after treatment. Johns Hopkins Medicine reports a 24 to 32 percent chance of recurrence within 15 years even when the original tumor and its dural attachment were completely removed.  

Stereotactic radiotherapy is the most common treatment for a meningioma that recurs, and in some cases a second course of radiation is delivered to a tumor that has already been irradiated.  

Women who experience a recurrence of their meningioma tumor or tumors often face repeat treatment, repeat recovery, and lifetime monitoring for tumor recurrence. 

Side Effects of Radiation Treatment for Meningioma

Radiation carries its own risks. Reported effects include fatigue, headaches, hair loss at the beam entry site, and swelling of the brain tissue around the treated area.  

Longer-term effects can include radiation injury to nearby cranial nerves, vision changes, hearing loss, hormonal problems when the tumor sits near the pituitary gland, memory and concentration difficulties, and radiation necrosis.  

Nearly every woman treated with radiation also requires surveillance imaging for years afterward to confirm the tumor remains stable. 

Does Radiation Treatment Affect Lawsuit Eligibility?

The form of treatment a woman received does not determine who is eligible to file a Depo-Provera meningioma lawsuit.  

Women who used the Depo shot may be eligible to file a claim if they meet the following case criteria: 

1. Treatment with Depo-Provera, Depo-SubQ Provera 104, or a generic medroxyprogesterone acetate contraceptive injection. 

2. At least one year, typically four injections, of treatment with the birth control shot. 

3. A confirmed diagnosis of a cranial meningioma made by a health care professional. 

Women treated with Gamma Knife, women treated with IMRT over six weeks, women who had a craniotomy followed by radiation, and women whose tumors are being watched with periodic MRI scans are all working from the same standard. 

How Radiation Treatment Affects the Value of a Claim

Treatment history does not decide eligibility, but it does help establish the damages available in a Depo-Provera meningioma claim.  

Radiation records document the cost of treatment, the number of sessions, travel to a treatment center, time missed from work, complications that followed, permanent neurological or hormonal effects, and the cost of continued imaging. Radiation oncology treatment summaries, dosimetry records, and pre-treatment and post-treatment scans all help show what the tumor and its treatment cost a woman. 

Contact a Depo-Provera Meningioma Lawyer

Whether a tumor was treated with Gamma Knife, CyberKnife, fractionated radiotherapy, IMRT, proton therapy, or surgery followed by radiation, a meningioma diagnosis is what opens the door to legal action.  

The lawyers at Hissey Mulderig & Friend are reviewing Depo-Provera brain tumor claims nationwide. There is no cost to talk with our attorneys to find out if you qualify to file a claim. Our firm works on a contingency basis, which means clients pay nothing unless their case is successful.  

If you or a loved one used Depo-Provera and were diagnosed with a meningioma, contact Hissey Mulderig & Friend to find out if you may be eligible to file a claim, or call our office toll-free at 1-866-806-8117 to talk with a lawyer about your legal options.