Everything you need to know about the types, symptoms and treatment of brain tumors
Once you learn you have a brain tumor, it’s normal to experience feelings of fear or uncertainty. It’s crucial to learn the type of brain tumor you have and the best course of treatment if you receive a diagnosis of one.
An aberrant growth of tissue in the brain or on the spinal cord is called a brain tumor. These can sometimes be caused by brain cancer, and sometimes they aren’t. The National Brain Tumor Society estimated that 87,000 Americans would receive a brain tumor diagnosis in 2019. Just roughly 26,000 of those cases were expected to be cancerous. When compared to some other cancers, such as the estimated 268,600 breast cancer diagnoses or the estimated 228,000 lung cancer diagnoses annually, malignant brain tumors are relatively uncommon, according to the National Cancer Institute.
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There are many different types of brain tumors. The treatment and survival rate depend on the kind of tumor. Some brain tumors begin in the brain, while others emerge in the brain due to another type of cancer that is in the body. Here’s more information about brain tumor types, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.
Types brain tumors
There are a few ways to classify brain tumors.
First, there are malignant versus nonmalignant tumors. Malignant means that the tumor is cancerous. Nonmalignant, or benign, means it is noncancerous. This categorization also applies to tumors in other parts of the body.
Next, there are two general categories used specifically for brain tumors:
- Primary tumors: These are tumors that arise from the brain itself.
- Metastatic tumors: Associated with an additional form of cancer in the body, these tumors are also referred to as secondary tumors. They develop when cancer has spread to the brain from another area of the body, such as breast or lung cancer. Approximately 80% of cancers have the potential to spread to the brain. As more cancer patients continue to live longer, metastatic tumors are becoming more prevalent.
Brain tumors are often named based on the type of cells they contain and where they occur in the brain. This can get confusing because there are more than 130 different kinds of brain tumors, according to the NBTS. Here are the most common types:
- Gliomas. Glial cells, a type of cell found in the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system, support the healthy function of our nerve cells and are present in every human. A tumor in the glial cells is known as a glioma tumor. Gliomas account for 81% of malignant tumors, according to the NBTS. Among the subtypes of glioma tumors are oligodendrogliomas, astrocytomas, glioblastomas, and ependymomas. The most prevalent and aggressive kind of brain tumor are glioblastomas. Both Senators Ted Kennedy and John McCain passed away from glioblastomas.
- Meningiomas. Tumors on the meninges, the protective tissue encircling the brain and spinal cord, are known as meningiomas. Despite not being in the brain, this tumor may exert pressure on the brain. According to the NBTS, meningiomas account for 34% of all primary brain tumors.
Causes and risk factors
It’s not usually clear what causes a brain tumor. “Most brain tumors arise spontaneously where a break occurs in a cell on its own,” says Dr. Michael Brisman, a neurosurgeon with NSPC Brain & Spine Surgery on Long Island, NY. Some people have genetic risk factors due to certain inherited syndromes. This means that having one of those syndromes will increase the chance of getting a brain tumor.
At this point, there are no specific lifestyle or environmental factors known to directly cause brain tumors.
For metastatic brain tumors, there may be an indirect cause. For example, most cases of lung cancer are associated with smoking.
Doctors don’t know all of the risk factors associated with brain tumors, but here are some:
- Exposure to high doses of radiation This could include radiation used near the head to treat cancer that occurred in childhood.
- Neurofibromatosis types 1 and 2
- Lynch syndrome.
- Tuberous sclerosis.
- Von Hippel-Landau disease
- Li-Fraumeni syndrome.
- Gorlin syndrome.
- Turcot syndrome.
- Cowden syndrome.
- Having a weakened immune system. A weakened immune system could be due to having another type of cancer or having HIV/AIDS, for example.
Symptoms
Some brain tumors may have no symptoms at all and be seen incidentally. “The person may hit their head or be in a car accident and get a scan. Then it’s seen,” says Dr. Michael Lim, director of brain tumor immunotherapy and professor of neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Other brain tumors have symptoms specific to their location in or around the brain. For instance, a tumor near the primary motor cortex, which controls muscle movement, may cause weakness. Additionally, a large tumor may cause headaches and a feeling of pressure.
Brain tumor symptoms can include:
- Headaches.
- Weakness on one side of the body.
- Confusion.
- Memory loss.
- Seizures.
- Speech problems.
- Coordination problems.
- Behavior changes.
- Changes in vision, such as double vision or blurred vision.
- Nausea or vomiting that’s not related to another cause
- Balance problems.
Diagnosis
In addition to symptoms, doctors will consider the results from a biopsy or special scans to diagnose brain tumors.
A biopsy examines tissue from a part of the body. Sometimes doctors will remove a brain tumor and then perform a biopsy to get more information about the tumor. Biopsies are not always possible with brain tumors due to their location.
During a CT scan (computed tomography), numerous X-rays are taken, and a computer brings the images together to form 3-D pictures. CT scans can help show tumors and any abnormalities in the body.
An MRI, short for magnetic resonance imaging, can help show the size of tumors and their location. There are different types of MRIs available, and your doctor will help you choose the type of MRI appropriate for your case.
Another type of scan that can be performed is a PET scan, short for positron emission tomography. PET scans can show how your organs and tissues are functioning with the use of a dye and low-level radioactive tracers. PET scans help health professionals learn more about tumors and find out if they’ve returned after treatment.
A metastatic brain tumor is usually diagnosed during a routine scan. These scans are conducted regularly in people with cancer or cancer survivors to check if there are new tumors in the body or to see how any existing tumors have changed. During this type of scan, a brain tumor may be spotted.
There may be other tests done to help diagnose a brain tumor. These can include:
- Molecular testing. This gives doctors more information about the tumor.
- Vision and hearing tests. These can be important if a tumor is thought to affect your senses, such as vision and hearing.
- Spinal tap. In this procedure, a needle is used to take a sample of cerebrospinal fluid to check for blood, tumor cells, or tumor markers.
- Neurocognitive assessment. This type of test evaluates different brain functions, such as memory storage and retrieval and language abilities. The results can help pinpoint specific problems in the brain.
Treatment
There are a few different types of treatment used for brain tumors, including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Sometimes one treatment is used. Other times, two or three treatments are combined. The treatment used will depend on:
- The type of tumor
- The tumor size.
- Tumor location.
- A person’s general health.
Surgery is often used if a tumor can be safely removed. This is also called a resection. Resection of a brain tumor has three purposes, according to de Groot:
- Remove enough tissue to study the tumor and make an exact diagnosis.
- Relieve any pressure on the brain caused by the tumor. This can also help bring relief from symptoms like headaches or pressure.
- Help increase the chance of survival from tumors that are life-threatening.
However, surgeons must work carefully when removing brain tumors. “The goal is to remove as many of the abnormal variants as possible without causing neurological deficits. There are some tumors in locations where you can’t perform surger,” de Groot says. For example, removing a tumor in the area where we produce speech could leave a person unable to speak.
Radiation and chemotherapy are other treatments available for brain tumors. Both help to kill tumor cells or make them smaller. They may also cause certain side effects, such as fatigue, loss of appetite, hair loss, skin irritation, an increased chance of infection, and temporary brain swelling.
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Disclaimer: The opinions and suggestions expressed in this article are solely those of the individual analysts. These are not the opinions of HNN. For more, please consult with your doctor.
