What You Need To Know About Brain Cancer

Author: Dick Aronson

Malignant brain tumors occur in about 4.5 people per 100,000 population, they may occur at any age but brain cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in patients younger than age 35. In adults, incidence is generally highest between ages 40 to 60.

There are two main types of brain cancer. Primary brain cancer starts in the brain. Metastatic brain cancer starts somewhere else in the body and moves to the brain. The most common tumor types in adults are gliomas and meningiomas. In children, incidence is generally highest before age 1 and again between ages 2 and 12. The most common types of brain tumour in children are astrocytomas, medulloblastomas, ependymomas and brain stem gliomas.



CAUSES OF BRAIN CANCER

What causes brain cancer is not exactly known but there has recently been a great deal of speculation on the role of cell phone radiation in the development of brain cancer. In fact, while studies generally have shown no link between cell phones and brain cancer, there is some conflicting scientific evidence that may be worth additional study, according to the FDA.



More accepted risk factors for brain cancer include; exposure to vinyl chloride and individuals with risk factors such as having a job in an oil refinery, as a chemist, embalmer, or rubber industry worker show higher rates of brain cancer. Other risk factors such as smoking, radiation exposure, and viral infection (HIV) have been suggested but not proven to cause brain cancer. Patients with a history of melanoma, lung, breast, colon, or kidney cancer are at risk for secondary brain cancer.



SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF BRAIN CANCER

Onset of symptoms is usually insidious and brain tumors are often misdiagnosed. Brain Cancers cause central nervous system changes by invading and destroying tissues and by secondary effects such as pressure on the brain. Symptoms vary but in general, brain cancer symptoms include: Abnormal pulse and breathing rates, deep, dull headaches that recur often and persist without relief for long periods of time, difficulty walking or speaking, dizziness, eyesight problems including double vision, seizures, vomiting and at the late stages of the disorder dramatic changes in blood pressure may occur. Although headaches are often a symptom of brain cancer, it is important to remember that most headaches are due to less serious conditions such as migraine or tension, not cancer.



DIAGNOSIS OF BRAIN CANCERS

In most cases a definitive diagnosis is made by a tissue biopsy. Other diagnostic tools include; patient history, a neurologic assessment, skull x-rays, a brain scan, CT scan, MRI, a lumbar puncture and cerebral angiography. Meningiomas, arising from the covering around the brain or spinal cord, account for about 20% of brain cancers and are generally more benign.



TREATMENT OF BRAIN TUMORS

How to treat brain tumors depends on the age of the patient, the stage of the disease, the type and location of the tumor, and whether the cancer is a primary tumor or brain metastases. Brain cancer and brain tumors are somewhat unique because of the blood

brain barrier, which severely restricts the types of substances in the bloodstream that are allowed by the body into the brain and makes drug treatment extremely difficult. Because of this more and more research is being undertaken in delivering medication by means of nanoparticles, amongst the properties of nanoparticles that make them ideal candidates for recognizing and treating brain cancer, their ability to deliver a wide variety of payloads across the blood-brain barrier is perhaps the most important.



Brain cancers location and ability to spread quickly makes treatment with surgery or radiation like fighting an enemy hiding out among minefields and caves, and explains why the term brain cancer is all too often associated with the word inoperable.

Brain cancer survival statistics for the deadliest of tumors such as gliomas have not improved significantly over the past two decades and the clinical armamentarium is, to a large extent, still dependent on surgery and radiation therapy, treatments known to leave survivors with devastating cognitive deficits. Gamma knife surgery is a radiosurgery technique used to treat people with brain cancer and other neurological disorders



The most deadly form of brain cancer may be treatable with a vaccine that uses proteins. Unlike measles or mumps vaccines, which are meant to prevent disease, the brain cancer vaccine turns on the patient's own immune system so it will help kill the tumor. When the vaccine is injected, it stimulates the immune system to kill off brain cancer cells and prevent the regrowth of tumors that have already been treated.



PROGNOSIS

The chances of surviving for a person with a brain tumor: Prognosis greatly depends on all of the following: type of tumor extent of the disease size and location of the tumor presence or absence of metastasis the tumor's response to therapy, age, overall health, and medical history, tolerance of specific medications, procedures, or therapies. Metastatic brain cancer indicates advanced disease and has a poor prognosis. Unfortunately, the most common form of primary brain cancer, glioblastoma, is also the most aggressive and lethal but teratomas and other germ cell tumors although they have the capacity to grow very large may have a more favorable prognosis.

About the Author:

Dick Aronson has a background of over 35 years in various facets of the Healthcare industry. He now runs a number of informative health sites; Go" target="_blank">www.healthinnovationsonline.com/">Go to Health Innovations , Go to Cancer Information Online and Go to Brain Cancer Site

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - What You Need To Know About Brain Cancer

Classification of Brain Tumor

By Peter Sams

A brain tumor — primary or secondary — can cause a variety of signs and symptoms because it can directly press on or invade brain tissue. This can damage or destroy areas responsible for sight, movement, balance, speech, hearing, memory or behavior. Brain tumor symptoms vary from patient to patient, and most of these symptoms can also be found in people who do NOT have brain tumors.

Therefore, the only sure way to tell if you have a brain tumor or not is to see your doctor and get a brain scan. The growth of abnormal cells in the tissues of the brain. Brain tumors can be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant. A primary brain tumor is a group (mass) of abnormal cells that start in the brain. This article focuses on primary brain tumors in adults. Brain tumors encompass neoplasms that originate in the brain itself (primary brain tumors) or involve the brain as a metastatic site. Brain tumors (metastatic brain tumors), which are malignant, are more common. These tumors result from cancer that started elsewhere in the body and spread (metastasized) to the brain.

Classification

HISTOPATHOLOGIC CLASSIFICATION — Primary brain tumors are classified by light microscopy according to their predominant cell type and graded based upon the presence or absence of standard pathologic features. Historical attempts at developing a classification system for brain tumors date back to the 1830s. The German pathologist Rudolf Virchow first introduced the term "glioma" in 1860. Virchow was also the first to attempt a correlation of microscopic to macroscopic features of CNS tumors.

Cellular Classification-He classification of brain tumors is based on both histopathological characteristics and location in the brain. Undifferentiated neuroectodermal tumors of the cerebellum have historically been referred to as medulloblastomas, while tumors of identical histology in the pineal region would be diagnosed as pineoblastomas. The nomenclature of pediatric brain tumors is controversial and potentially confusing. Some pathologists advocate abandoning the traditional morphologically-based classifications such as medulloblastoma in favor of a terminology that relies more extensively on the phenotypic characteristics of the tumor.

Primary Brain Tumor

Astrocytomas — these tumors arise from small, star-shaped cells called astrocytes. They may grow anywhere in the brain or spinal cord. In adults, astrocytomas most often arise in the cerebrum. In children, they occur in the brain stem, the cerebrum and the cerebellum. A grade III astrocytoma is sometimes called anaplastic astrocytoma. A grade IV astrocytoma is usually called glioblastoma multiforme.

Brain stem gliomas — These tumors occur in the lowest, stem-like part of the brain. The brain stem controls many vital functions. Most brain stem gliomas are high-grade astrocytomas.

Secondary Brain Tumor

Metastatic brain tumors originate from malignant tumors located primarily in other organs. Their incidence is higher than that of primary brain tumors. The most frequent types of metastatic brain tumors originate in the lung skin (malignant melanoma, kidney (hypernephroma, breast (breast carcinoma), and colon (colon carcinoma). These tumor cells reach the brain via the blood-stream.
Some non-tumoral masses and lesions can mimic tumors of the central nervous system. These include tuberculosis of the brain, cerebral abscess (commonly in toxoplasmosis), and hamartomas