What is Brain Tumor / Intracranial Tumor?
Brain tumors or intracranial tumors are a collection of abnormal cells in the brain. Brain tumors which develop inside the brain are called primary brain tumors. Sometimes, the tumors spread to the brain from other parts of the body and are known as secondary brain tumors or metastatic brain tumors (1✔).
Symptoms of a brain tumor may vary depending on the location of the brain tumor. Some of the symptoms include headaches, seizures, speaking difficulty, personality changes, weakness or paralysis, loss of balance, vision changes, hearing changes, and confusion (2✔).
Top Ten Facts about Brain Tumors
Statistics on Brain Tumors
- Primary brain tumors originate in the brain and there are over 126 such tumors listed by WHO.
- Glioma is the the most common primary brain tumour and originates from supporting brain cells that are called glial cells and 50% of all brain tumors begin as benign tumors (3✔).
- Each year approximately 200,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with metastatic or primary brain tumors (4✔).
- The five-year survival rate for malignant brain tumors is around 35.7% (5✔).
- About 1 milion people are living with primary brain tumors in the United States (5✔).
- Adults account for over 82% of all primary brain tumors (6✔).
Types of Brain Tumors
- The most common brain tumors are cancers that spread to the brain from other parts of the body (e.g., lung, breast, colon, or prostate) (7✔).
- Astrocytes are another type of brain tumor. They get their name because their cells look like stars ; the word ‘astro’ in Latin means "star" (8✔).
- A primary brain tumor is often limited to the brain and does not spread to other organs. If brain death occurs in these patients, it is possible to donate their organs (9✔).
Treatment for Brain Tumor
- Brain tumors can be treated by surgery, radiation therapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or by using these in combination. The most important issue when treating these patients, besides trying to cure them, is to ensure that their quality of life is not compromised (10✔).
