Symptoms And Treatment Of Brain Tumors

A brain tumor is, like all tumors, a mass of cells that grow out of control. They can be malignant or benign. We will tell you all about the symptoms, causes and treatment of brain tumors.

What is a brain tumor?

A brain tumor is a mass of cells that have lost control of reproduction and growth. In other words, they grow and multiply uncontrollably in a different way than the rest of the normal cells of the body.

This is because a cell undergoes mutations that cause it to reproduce much longer than normal and not die when it should, accumulating even more mutations that turn it into a malignant cell. Thus, a mass of mutant cells appears.

We can differentiate between two classes of tumors. There are benign tumors and malignant tumors. The difference lies in the ability to metastasize, more precisely the ability to spread throughout the body. In benign tumors the growth will be local, while malignant ones will be disseminated.

In addition, the primary tumors appear in the original tissue, which in this case is the brain. Secondary tumors are those that came from another area of ​​the body and metastasized to the brain.

Types of brain tumors

There are many types of tumors that we can find in the brain. There are tumors that occur mainly in children, while others occur in adults or the elderly.

Of all the types of brain tumors, the most common are secondary. These include lung, breast and skin cancer metastases.

Regarding primary tumors, there are different types, depending on the area they come from. The most common in adults is meningioma, followed by glioblastoma. Other types of primary brain tumors include, for example, acoustic neuroma, pituitary adenoma, medulloblastoma, and craniopharyngioma.

Symptoms of brain tumors

Causes and diagnosis of brain tumor

The exact causes of cancer are currently unknown, although we can relate them to some risk factors. We know some types of cancer that can be inherited, ie they are encoded in genes. However, others occur spontaneously. Some factors that can predispose to the development of cancer are radiation exposure and tobacco.

A clinical evaluation by an expert will be required to diagnose it. You will also need various tests, both imaging (such as CT) and blood or mass biopsies. Tests will indicate exactly what type of tumor it is before starting treatment.

Treatment of brain tumors

The specialist in charge of the case will decide which is the most appropriate treatment. It can range from chemotherapy or radiation therapy to surgery to remove the tumor. Treatment will depend on the type of tumor, its location, the characteristics of the patient and many other factors that will need to be studied together.

Like all cancers, it is a research topic to improve the treatment and survival of patients. The sooner a tumor is detected, the greater the patient’s chances.