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The term brain cancer although often used by the general
public is actually not the term often used by the medical community. Primary
brain tumor is the term used by the medical community for tumors arising
form the brain. In children, most brain tumors are primary tumors. In adults
however, most tumors in the brain have spread from the lung, breast, or
other parts of the body. When this happens, the disease is not brain cancer.
The tumor in the brain is a secondary tumor and it is named after the organ
or tissue fromch it began.
A brain tumor is any intracranial tumor created by abnormal and uncontrolled
cell division, normally either found in the brain itself, in the cranial
nerves, in the brain envelopes, skull, pituitary and pineal gland, or from
cancers primarily located in other organs. Although they can affect any part
of the brain, primary brain tumors in children are generally located in the
posterior cranial fossil; and in adults, in the anterior two-thirds of the
cerebral hemispheres.
The most common brain tumors or brain cancers are gliomas, which start in
the glial (supportive) tissue. Several types of gliomas include astrocytomas,
ependymomas, and oligodendrogliomas.
The development of certain types of primary brain tumors or brain cancers
has been linked to exposure to radiation, especially if exposure took place
in childhood. It is generally believed that higher radiation doses increase
the risk of eventually developing a brain cancer. Radiation-induced brain
tumors can take anywhere from ten to thirty years to form. The exposure to
vinyl chloride and/or ionizing radiation are the only known risk factors;
other than these there are no known environmental factors that can be
associated with brain tumors. The so-called tumor suppressor genes mutations
and deletions are incriminated in some forms of brain tumors. Inherited
diseases such as Von Hippel-Lindau Syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 2, and
multiple endocrine neoplasia of a patient pose a high risk to having brain
tumor.
Symptoms of brain tumor and brain cancer are caused by the damage to the
vital tissue and by pressure on the brain as the tumor grows within the
limited space in the skull. If a brain tumor grows very slowly, its symptoms
may appear so gradually that they are sometimes overlooked for a long time.
The most frequent symptoms of brain tumors or brain cancer include headache,
nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, seizures, memory loss, weakness, visual
changes, problems with speech and language, personality changes, and thought
processing problems. These symptoms may be caused by brain tumors or by
other problems. If a person is experiencing such symptoms, consulting a
doctor right away is strongly advised.
A person diagnosed with brain cancer or brain tumor will undergo treatments
that include surgery (surgical resection), which is recommended for the
majority of brain tumors. It is rare in primary brain tumor to be cured
without a surgical resection. Other treatments include chemotherapy and
radiation therapy.
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