Also known as: glioma, Meningioma
There are two main types of brain cancer. Primary brain cancer begins in the brain. Metastatic brain cancer begins elsewhere in the body and moves to the brain. Brain tumors can be benign, with no cancer cells or malignant cancerous cells that grow rapidly.
Causes and risk factors
Apart from a known association with exposure to vinyl chloride, there is no known chemical or environmental agents that lead to the development of brain tumors.
The following factors have been proposed as risk factors possible for primary brain tumors. If in fact these factors increase the risk of a brain tumor is known with certainty.
Radiation to the head
An inherited (genetic) risk
HIV infection
Meningioma
Neuroblastoma
Oligodendroglioma
Pineoblastoma
Immune system disorders
Impaired immune systems have an increased risk of developing Lymphoma of the brain or spinal cord. Lymphomas are cancers of lymphocytes, a type of immune system cells. Lymphoma usually form in the lymph nodes.
Brain cancer symptoms:
Specific symptoms vary, but may include:
Headaches - continues and is even worse when the child wakes up
Vomiting - more severe in the morning
Nausea
Changes of behavior and personality
Persistent Drownsiness
Incontinence
Crossed eyes
The movement of abnormal eye or vision changes
Drowsiness
Changes in personality or memory
Changes in speech
Localized weakness or sensory loss caused by invasion or compression of adjacent brain tissue
The dependant neurological loss resulting on the location of the tumour.
Nausea and vomiting: headache, are non-specific - which means that most people who have nausea and vomiting do not have a brain tumor. Twenty - two percent of the population of our survey reported that they had nausea and vomiting where as a symptom.
Treatment of cancer
Surgery
Surgery is the treatment of choice for accessible primary brain tumors, where the patient is in good health. The goal of surgery is to remove as much tumor as possible without harming adjacent normal brain tissue. The prognosis is improved when more than 90% of a tumor can be removed.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the drug which is used as a complementary tool to eliminate the remaining cancer cells in the body. A child or a teenager with cancer is generally given chemotherapy drugs intravenously (into a vein) or oral (by mouth).
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy, also called radiotherapy, is the use of x-ray high power to damage cancer cells and prevent growth. It is often used to destroy the tumor tissue that can be removed with surgery or kill cancer cells may remain after surgery. Radiation therapy is also used when surgery is not possible.
Follow-up testing
Once a patient has been treated for a brain tumor, he or she must be followed closely for a recurrence. First, the patient will be follow-up visits often enough. More he or she is free of the disease, less often he or she will have to go to the balance sheets of health with reviews. The doctor will decide when to obtain follow-up MRI or pet.
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