What is a brain tumor?
What is a brain tumor?
Brain tumor is a generic term for all tumors that develop within the cranial cavity. Depending on the location of occurrence, benign tumors may have poor prognosis like malignant tumors, and the risk of recurrence is higher than that of other tumors. Brain tumors rarely grow quickly and infiltrate surrounding tissues, but rarely metastasize to other organs.
What causes brain tumors?
The cause of brain tumors is still unknown, but it is thought that the genes that suppress tumors lose their function and form tumors. Brain tumors occur through a complex process, such as these changes occurring continuously or cumulatively.
We are thinking of external causes that cause these changes, namely, carcinogens such as radiation, chemicals, viruses, hormones, etc. that exist in the surrounding environment such as radiation, food and air.
What are the symptoms of a brain tumor?
First, as the tumor grows, the brain pressure rises, causing headaches and vomiting.
Second, as a symptom of nerve palsy caused by compressing the surrounding nerves, arm and leg paralysis may occur.
Third, epileptic seizures occur by stimulating the brain cortex.
Fourth, as a result of the brain being pushed by a tumor, vision disorders and paraplegia may occur.
How can a brain tumor be diagnosed?
If a patient's medical history and neurological examination indicate an intracranial disease, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain are performed.
In addition, cerebrovascular angiography to determine the distribution of blood vessels around or within the tumor, positron emission tomography (PET) to observe brain metabolism, and EEG are also performed.
Radiologically, if the disease is considered to be a tumor, the final diagnosis is made with the tissue obtained by removing the tumor only by biopsy or surgery.
How are brain tumors treated?
1. Surgical Removal: The best treatment for brain tumors is to completely remove the tumor with surgery. In addition, other purposes of surgery are to increase the effectiveness of treatment, such as radiotherapy or anticancer drugs, for accurate histological diagnosis, to improve neurological symptoms caused by tumors.
2. Radiation therapy: Start radiation therapy when you want to completely remove the remaining tumor or delay its growth, or when it recurs or when the tumor cells have the property of penetrating the surrounding tissues. Radiation therapy is currently the most used to treat brain metastasis cancer.
3. Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy for brain metastasis cancer treatment has the advantage of simultaneously treating brain lesions and cancer, but it is limited to some tumors because it is difficult to penetrate into the cranial cavity due to the cerebrovascular barrier.
How to prevent brain tumors?
There is no specific way to prevent brain tumors. If it is a cancer that spreads to the brain, it is most important to treat the primary cancer.
Symptoms of brain tumors are very diverse, so if you don't suspect it from the beginning, you often spend a long time doing unnecessary tests. Therefore, if you have visual field defects, sensory disorders, motor disorders, speech disorders, epileptic seizures, or family history, it is best to consult a specialist for early diagnosis through detailed examination.