Brain tumors occur when cells in the brain begin to divide out of control and start to displace or invade nearby tissues. Occasionally, brain tumors can spread throughout the body. Any of the various normal cell types of the brain can mutate and become a primary tumor, and the particular cell type which makes up the tumor controls how the tumor is likely to behave. It is locked into place by the skull and can’t move out of the way if a tumor is growing near it. Even a benign tumor can cause pressure on the brain, and this pressure can be both symptomatic and life-threatening. Metastases are tumors which have spread from a cancer that started in a different body part; they do not start in the brain, but instead take up residence there after traveling from a separate cancer (like a lung cancer or breast cancer).
Causes of Brain Tumours
The common Causes of Brain Tumours:
The causes of primary brain tumours are unknown, making prevention difficult.
Metastatic tumours occur when cancer from another part of the body – such as a lung or breast cancer – spreads to the brain.
This depends on whether the tumour is a primary brain tumour, meaning it originates in the brain, or a metastatic brain tumour, which means it starts elsewhere in the body.
By definition, metastatic tumours are malignant.
Symptoms of Brain Tumours
Some Symptoms of Brain Tumours:
Swallowing difficulty
Tongue problems
Hiccups
Facial paralysis
Obesity
Uncontrollable movement
Impaired sense of smell
Absent menstruation
Hand tremor
Dysfunctional movement
Confusion
Breathing, absent temporarily
Treatment of Brain Tumours
The use of high-dose X-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation therapy for childhood brain tumors usually comes from a machine and is called external radiation therapy
Steroids may be given to reduce any swelling in the brain. Drugs to control seizures may also be prescribed.
The use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs may be taken orally or injected into a vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body and can kill cancer cells throughout the body
Surgery is necessary for most primary brain tumors. Some may be completely removed. Tumors that are deep or that infiltrate brain tissue may be debulked (reducing the tumor’s size and mass) rather than removed.
Researchers are also studying new ways to deliver cancer-fighting drugs to brain tumors. For instance, biodegradable wafers containing cancer-fighting drugs are being implanted in some tumors during surgery.
