Because brain is control center of body, they need to be taken seriously.
When a tumor grows in brain, it puts pressure on brain, which affects how you think, see, act, and feel. Thus, for a brain tumor, whether it is malignant or not, what matters is where it is located, how large it is, how quickly it grows or spreads, and whether it affects nearby structures.
Rating
Doctors rate brain tumors on a scale of 1 to 4, and low-grade (grade 1) tumors are not cancer. They grow slowly and usually do not spread. They can usually be cured with surgery. At other end of the spectrum are high-grade (grade 4) tumors. They grow rapidly, spread rapidly, and are often incurable. Between second and third grade. Usually grade 2 is not cancer, and grade 3 is cancer.
Symptoms
It all depends on type of tumor and its location:
Secondary brain tumor ----- brain metastases
Most people with brain cancer (approximately 100,000 people a year) have this type of cancer, which means cancer has spread from other parts of body to your brain. About half of brain cancer cases are due to lung cancer. Other cancers that can spread to brain include:
Primary brain tumor
In adults, most common brain tumors are meningiomas and gliomas.
Meningiomas account for more than 35% of all primary brain tumors. They do not grow from brain tissue itself, but from cells that cover brain. Their benign location and growth make them serious.
The most common brain tumor - almost one in five - is glioblastoma. This is a type of glioma, a tumor that starts in your glial cells. They spread rapidly and are often fatal.
Other types
The different types of primary brain tumors are named after their location in brain. In addition to gliomas, these include pituitary adenomas, sellar chordomas, cerebellar medulloblastomas, etc.
Causal factorsRisk Factor: Radiation
It's often unclear what puts you at risk for a primary brain tumor. But one known reason for this is radiation directed at your head to treat another disease, such as leukemia. In most cases, benefits of radiation outweigh possible risk of future cancer.
Risk factors: age
Brain tumors can occur at any age, but they tend to be different in children and adults. It is more common in adults over 50 than in younger people and children.
Risk factors: other health problems
You may be more likely to develop a brain tumor if you have a weakened immune system, such as if you have AIDS or have had an organ transplant. If someone in your family had a brain tumor, there will also be certain genetic factors such as:
This has been a hot topic in recent years, but research has yet to show any clear link between mobile phones and brain tumors. However, there aren't many long-term studies on mobile phone use, and scientists are still working on it.
How are brain tumors detected?
When you see a doctor with symptoms, it is usually a series of tests such as CT scans, MRIs, etc. If a brain tumor is diagnosed, treatment options and their consequences often depend more on type, size, and location of tumor, as well as your age and general health.
Physical examination
The doctor may start with a neurological exam. It checks your nervous system - like your vision, balance and reflexes - to see where tumor might be. You may also need a scan to give him a more detailed examination of tumor. This can be MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CT (computed tomography) or PET (positron emission tomography). A biopsy may also be required to determine pathological type of tumor.
Treatment: follow-up
Every treatment has side effects, so if tumor grows slowly and doesn't cause any problems, it may not need treatment at all. But you will need regular checkups to keep an eye on swelling and make sure it doesn't get bigger or cause new problems.
Treatment: surgical
If doctors can find tumor, that could be first step. At best, tumor is small enough to come out completely. But some parts of brain are very fragile, and removing entire tumor can damage normal brain tissue, so size and location of the tumor is very important for surgery.
Treatment: chemotherapy
This uses potent drugs to kill cancer cells, or at least slow them down, either in pills, injections, or directly into bloodstream using a small needle called an IV. In some types of brain cancer, brain is placed on a chip after surgery. The plate slowly dissolves and directs drug to tumor, killing any remaining cancer cells.
Treatment: radiotherapy
Radiation uses high-energy beams of X-rays or other sources to kill tumors. It is sometimes used along with chemotherapy to kill more cancer cells or protect brain. New types of radiation, such as proton therapy and focused radiation, are aimed very close to tumor, so they do not damage other parts of your brain.
Treatment: targeted therapy
Cancer cells work differently than normal cells. Doctors can sometimes exploit these differences with targeted therapies, using drugs to stop cancer cells from doing what they need to survive. It kills cancer but leaves normal cells alone. For example, a targeted drug can stop formation of blood vessels that promote tumor growth.
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