Brain Tumor

What Is It?

A brain tumor is a mass of abnormally growing cells in the brain or skull. It can be either benign (noncancerous and unlikely to spread) or malignant (cancerous and likely to spread). Whether benign or malignant, all brain tumors are serious because a growing tumor eventually will compress and damage other structures in the brain.

There are two categories of brain tumors: primary and secondary. Primary tumors start in brain tissue, while secondary tumors have spread to the brain from another area of the body.

Primary tumors can be benign or malignant, and are classified by the tissue in which they begin:

• Gliomas, the most common primary tumors, start in the brain's glial (supportive) tissue. Gliomas include astrocytomas, glioblastomas, oligodendroglial tumors and ependymal tumors.

• Medulloblastomas come from early embryonic cells and more commonly occur in children.

• Meningiomas are related to the type of cells in the lining of membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. They are more commonly benign, but can be recurrent or malignant.

• Glioblastoma multiforme is a higher-grade tumor that can arise from lower-grade gliomas.

• Lymphoma arises from lymphocyte cells, usually in other parts of the body, but also can occur in just the brain or spinal cord.

Secondary tumors most commonly come from the lungs or breast. When this happens, the cancer is the same as the original cancer. For example, lung cancer that spreads to the brain is known as metastatic lung cancer because the tumor's cells resemble abnormal lung cells, rather than abnormal brain cells. Secondary brain tumors are more common than primary tumors. They occur in approximately 25% of people who have cancer elsewhere in the body.

More than 17,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with brain tumors each year, according to the American Cancer Society. Although brain tumors can occur at any age, they most commonly appear in adults 40 to 70 years old and children 3 to 12 years of age.

Symptoms

The symptoms of a brain tumor often are the same as those of other diseases and also may develop gradually, so they often are overlooked for a long time before diagnosis.

Although a brain tumor rarely causes headache, headaches in someone with no previous history of them should be evaluated by a professional. Headaches from a brain tumor tend to be worse upon waking and ease during the day. Other symptoms of brain tumor include: