Brain cancer is a tumour or cancerous growth in the brain. A tumour, whether in your brain or elsewhere, is a mass of cells that reproduce themselves in an uncontrolled way. Tumours can be either benign or malignant.
Benign brain tumours are abnormal collections of cells that reproduce slowly and usually remain separate from the surrounding normal brain. They grow slowly, do not spread to other parts of the brain and can usually be removed more easily than malignant tumours. Malignant tumours reproduce and grow quickly by invading normal brain tissue. Their borders are hard to distinguish from the normal brain around them. That is why it is hard to remove them completely without damaging the surrounding brain.
Both benign and malignant tumours are further broken up into different types according to the kind of cell from which the tumour develops.
Benign tumours can be divided into the following:
There are also some tumour types that can be benign in some cases or malignant in others, such as meningiomas or germ cell tumours.
This article focuses on the malignant (cancerous) brain tumours.
Brain cancers are relatively rare, but they are often deadly. The most common malignant types are called gliomas, where cells called glia (cells which help support the nerve cells) become cancerous. Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common of the gliomas. Glioblastoma multiforme and anaplastic astrocytoma are fast-growing gliomas. Oligodendroglioma, another type of glioma, is also rare, but is most often found in adults. Gliomas make up between 50% to 60% of all brain tumours (malignant and benign) in both children and adults combined.
Medullablastoma, which grows from the cells of the medulla at the base of the brain, is the most common type of brain cancer in children. It usually affects children before puberty.
Primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphomas are lymphomas that arise in the brain or spinal cord. They are treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.
Finally, sarcoma and adenocarcinoma are extremely uncommon types of brain tumour.
The exact cause of cancer is unknown. Brain cancer that originates in the brain is called a primary brain tumour. It can spread and destroy nearby parts of the brain. Cancers of the breast, lung, skin, or blood cells (leukemia or lymphoma) can also spread (metastasize) to the brain, causing metastatic brain cancer. These groups of cancer cells can then grow in a single area or in different parts of the brain.
Risk factors include:
Brain cancers are usually treated with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy (anticancer medications), and radiation as well as medications that control symptoms.
High doses of steroids are frequently used during or around the time of radiation to reduce any swelling caused by the tumour. These will often relieve some or all of the symptoms but have no effect on the tumour itself. Anticonvulsant medications may be used to prevent seizures.
Surgery is done to remove as much of the cancer as possible. Some brain cancers are located in areas that surgeons can’t reach without damaging other important portions of the brain. It’s often better not to operate in those cases. Even when surgery can’t completely remove all of the cancer, it can make the tumour smaller, which helps relieve some of the symptoms and can make other treatments more effective.
Radiation and chemotherapy are usually started after surgery. They often don’t cure brain cancer, but can keep the tumour under control for months.
If you have seizures from the brain tumour, your doctor may prescribe antiseizure medications as well.
Treatment of metastatic cancers (those that have spread) largely depends on the location where they started. For example, a lung cancer that metastasized to the brain would be treated the same way as other lung cancers. The part of the cancer that has spread to the brain may be treated by radiation. If the cancer has metastasized but is limited to one area in the brain, it is sometimes removed surgically.
Advances in technology are providing new treatment options such as lasers and ultrasound for removing tumours. An alternative to surgery is a technique called Gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery, where radiation beams are accurately focused directly on the tumour. These newer techniques may leave fewer cancer cells behind and minimize the damage to the healthy brain tissue around the tumour, resulting in fewer neurological complications.
It is usually not possible to get rid of all the brain cancer cells. If even a few are left behind, the cancer can grow back.
All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2025. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/condition/getcondition/Brain-Cancer
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