CAUSES OF BRAIN TUMOR
By: ETMGeneral
What are brain tumors?
A tumor in the brain isn’t like tumors in other parts of your body. It has limited room for growth because of the skull. This means that a growing tumor can squeeze vital parts of the brain and lead to serious health problems. Learning about the possible symptoms of brain tumors can help you know when to tell a doctor about them.
Primary brain tumors begin when normal cells acquire errors (mutations) in their DNA. These mutations allow cells to grow and divide at increased rates and to continue living when healthy cells would die. The result is a mass of abnormal cells, which forms a tumor.
- The brain is the body organ composed of nerve cells and supportive tissues like glial cells and meninges – there are three major parts – they control your activity like breathing (brain stem), activity like moving muscles to walk (cerebellum) and your senses like sight and our memory, emotions, thinking and personality (cerebrum).
- Primary brain tumors can be either malignant (contain cancer cells) or benign (do not contain cancer cells). A primary brain tumor is a tumor which begins in the brain tissue. If a cancerous tumor starts elsewhere in the body, it can spread cancer cells, which grow in the brain. These types of tumors are called secondary or metastatic brain tumors.
- Brain tumors can occur at any age.
Researchers and doctors do not know exact cause of brain tumors.
Risk factors include exposure to ionizing radiation and family history of brain tumors.
The signs symptoms of brain tumors depend on their size, type, and location. The most common signs symptoms include headaches; numbness or tingling in the arms or legs; seizures; memory problems; mood and personality changes; balance and walking problems; nausea and vomiting; or changes in speech, vision, or hearing.
Doctors group brain tumors are classified by grade (grade I, grade II, grade III, or grade IV -the most severe). The grade is determined by the way the cells look under a microscope. The higher the grade number, the more abnormal the cells appear, and the more aggressively the tumor usually behaves.
The most common types of primary brain tumors among adults are astrocytoma, meningiom (a tumor that arises from the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord) and oligodendroglioma.
The most common type of primary brain tumors in children are medulloblastoma, grade I or II astrocytoma, (or glioma) ependymoma, and brain stem glioma.
Studies have found risk factors for brain tumors to include ionizing radiation from high dose X-rays (for example, radiation therapy where the machine is aimed at the head), and family history.
Diagnosis of a brain tumor is done by a neurologic exam (by a neurologist or neurosurgeon), CT (computer tomography scan) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and other tests like an angiogram, spinal tap and biopsy. Your diagnosis helps predict the treatment.
Neurologists base the treatment of brain tumors on the type, location, and size of the tumor, your health, and age. Treatment options may include surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy (or a combination of treatments).
Supportive care is important before, during, and after treatment to minimize symptoms, and to improve your quality of life.
What is necessary to qualify for clinical trials for brain tumor treatment? Some patients can qualify for clinical trials by contacting.
What are the early warning symptoms and signs of a brain tumor?
Cancer that has spread to the brain from another part of the body is called a metastatic brain tumor. Metastatic brain tumors are much more common than primary tumors.
The symptoms of a brain tumor depend on tumor size, type, and location. Symptoms may be caused when a tumor presses on a nerve or harms a part of the brain. Also, they may be caused when a tumor blocks the fluid that flows through and around the brain, or when the brain swells because of the buildup of fluid.
The most common early warning symptoms and signs of brain tumors include:
1. A new onset or change in pattern of headaches
2. Headaches in the morning
3. Headaches that gradually become more frequent and severe
4. Nausea and vomiting for no reason
5. Changes in speech, vision, or hearing
6. Problems balancing or walking
7. Changes in mood, personality, or ability to concentrate
8. Problems with memory
9. Muscle jerking or twitching (seizures or convulsions)
10. Numbness or tingling in the arms or legs
11. Gradual loss of sensation or movement in an arm or a leg
12. in everyday matters
13.Personality or behavior changes
Most often, these symptoms are not due to a brain tumor. Another health problem could cause them. If you have any of these symptoms, you should tell your doctor so that problems can be diagnosed and treated early before it has grown. Some people with brain tumors have seizures, especially in someone who does not have a history of seizures.
What are the causes and risk factors for brain tumors?
When you're told that you have a brain tumor, it's natural to wonder what may have caused your disease. But no one knows the exact causes of brain tumors. Doctors seldom know why one person develops a brain tumor and another doesn't.
Researchers are studying whether people with certain risk factors are more likely than others to develop a brain tumor. A risk factor is something that may increase the chance of getting a disease.
Studies have found the following risk factors for brain tumors:
Ionizing radiation: Ionizing radiation from high dose x-rays (such as radiation therapy from a large machine aimed at the head) and other sources can cause cell damage that leads to a tumor. People exposed to ionizing radiation may have an increased risk of a brain tumor, such as meningioma or glioma.
Family history: It is rare for brain tumors to run in a family. Only a very small number of families have several members with brain tumors.
Researchers are studying whether using cell phones, having had a head injury, or having been exposed to certain chemicals at work or to magnetic fields are important risk factors. Studies have not shown consistent links between these possible risk factors and brain tumors, but additional research is needed.
What procedures and tests diagnose the type and grade of a brain tumor?
If you have symptoms that suggest a brain tumor, your doctor will give you a physical exam and ask about your personal and family health history. You may have one or more of the following tests:
Neurologic exam: Your doctor checks your vision, hearing, alertness, muscle strength, coordination, and reflexes. Your doctor also examines your eyes to look for swelling caused by a tumor pressing on the nerve that connects the eye and the brain.
MRI: A large machine with a strong magnet linked to a computer is used to make detailed pictures of areas inside your head. Sometimes a special dye (contrast material) is injected into a blood vessel in your arm or hand to help show differences in the tissues of the brain. The pictures can show abnormal areas, such as a tumor.
CT scan: An x-ray machine linked to a computer takes a series of detailed pictures of your head. You may receive contrast material by injection into a blood vessel in your arm or hand. The contrast material makes abnormal areas easier to see. Your doctor may ask for other tests:
Angiogram: Dye injected into the bloodstream makes blood vessels in the brain show up on an x-ray. If a tumor is present, the x-ray may show the tumor or blood vessels that are feeding into the tumor.
Spinal tap: Your doctor may remove a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid that fills the spaces in and around the brain and spinal cord). This procedure is performed with local anesthesia. The doctor uses a long, thin needle to remove fluid from the lower part of the spinal column. A spinal tap takes about 30 minutes. You must lie flat for several hours afterward to keep from getting a headache. A laboratory checks the fluid for cancer cells or other signs of problems.
Biopsy: The removal of tissue to look for tumor cells is called a biopsy. A pathologist looks at the cells under a microscope to check for abnormal cells. A biopsy can show cancer, tissue changes that may lead to cancer, and other conditions. A biopsy is the only sure way to diagnose a brain tumor, learn what grade it is, and plan treatment. Surgeons can obtain tissue to look for tumor cells in two ways:
Biopsy at the same time as treatment: The surgeon takes a tissue sample when you have surgery to remove part or all of the tumor. See the Surgery section.
The brain is the body organ composed of nerve cells and supportive tissues like glial cells and meninges – there are three major parts – they control your activity like breathing (brain stem), activity like
Studies have found the following risk factors for brain tumors:
Ionizing radiation: Ionizing radiation from high dose x-rays (such as radiation therapy from a large machine aimed at the head) and other sources can cause cell damage that leads to a tumor. People exposed to ionizing radiation may have an increased risk of a brain tumor, such as meningioma or glioma.
Family history: It is rare for brain tumors to run in a family. Only a very small number of families have several members with brain tumors.
Researchers are studying whether using cell phones, having had a head injury, or having been exposed to certain chemicals at work or to magnetic fields are important risk factors. Studies have not shown consistent links between these possible risk factors and brain tumors, but additional research is needed.
What procedures and tests diagnose the type and grade of a brain tumor?
If you have symptoms that suggest a brain tumor, your doctor will give you a physical exam and ask about your personal and family health history. You may have one or more of the following tests:
Neurologic exam: Your doctor checks your vision, hearing, alertness, muscle strength, coordination, and reflexes. Your doctor also examines your eyes to look for swelling caused by a tumor pressing on the nerve that connects the eye and the brain.
MRI: A large machine with a strong magnet linked to a computer is used to make detailed pictures of areas inside your head. Sometimes a special dye (contrast material) is injected into a blood vessel in your arm or hand to help show differences in the tissues of the brain. The pictures can show abnormal areas, such as a tumor.
CT scan: An x-ray machine linked to a computer takes a series of detailed pictures of your head. You may receive contrast material by injection into a blood vessel in your arm or hand. The contrast material makes abnormal areas easier to see. Your doctor may ask for other tests:
Angiogram: Dye injected into the bloodstream makes blood vessels in the brain show up on an x-ray. If a tumor is present, the x-ray may show the tumor or blood vessels that are feeding into the tumor.
Spinal tap: Your doctor may remove a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid that fills the spaces in and around the brain and spinal cord). This procedure is performed with local anesthesia. The doctor uses a long, thin needle to remove fluid from the lower part of the spinal column. A spinal tap takes about 30 minutes. You must lie flat for several hours afterward to keep from getting a headache. A laboratory checks the fluid for cancer cells or other signs of problems.
Biopsy: The removal of tissue to look for tumor cells is called a biopsy. A pathologist looks at the cells under a microscope to check for abnormal cells. A biopsy can show cancer, tissue changes that may lead to cancer, and other conditions. A biopsy is the only sure way to diagnose a brain tumor, learn what grade it is, and plan treatment. Surgeons can obtain tissue to look for tumor cells in two ways:
Biopsy at the same time as treatment: The surgeon takes a tissue sample when you have surgery to remove part or all of the tumor. See the Surgery section.
Stereotactic biopsy: You may get local or general anesthesia and wear a rigid head frame for this procedure. The surgeon makes a small incision in the scalp and drills a small hole (a burr hole) into the skull. CT or MRI is used to guide the needle through the burr hole to the location of the tumor. The surgeon withdraws a sample of tissue with the needle. A needle biopsy may be used when a tumor is deep inside the brain or in a part of the brain that can't be operated on.
However, if the tumor is in the brain stem or certain other areas, the surgeon may not be able to remove tissue from the tumor without harming normal brain tissue. In this case, the doctor uses MRI, CT, or other imaging tests to learn as much as possible about the brain tumor.
Questions to ask the doctor before a brain tumor biopsy
1. Why do I need a biopsy? How will the biopsy results affect my treatment plan?
2. What kind of biopsy will I have?
3. How long will it take? Will I be awake? Will it hurt?
4. What are the chances of infection or bleeding after the biopsy? Are there any other risks?
5. How soon will I know the results?
6. If I do have a brain tumor, who will talk with me about treatment? When?
Comments