A brain tumor is a group of tumors that develop inside the skull. As many as 150 types of brain tumors are known to occur in brain tissue, and the number of cases is small and the cause is unknown. Even now, research on a test method that leads to an accurate diagnosis or a treatment method with less burden on the patient is recommended. This time, we explain in detail what you can do to deepen your knowledge about brain tumors, such as symptoms and causes, typical diseases, and treatment methods.

What is a brain tumor?

A brain tumor is a term that summarizes tumors that occur within the skull. It can be divided into naive brain tumors that arise from brain tissue and metastatic brain tumors that occur when cancer metastasizes.

primary brain tumor

What kind of brain tumor is being referred to as a nuclear brain tumor?

A nuclear brain tumor is a brain tumor that occurs in brain tissues such as the brain, meninges, cranial nerves, pituitary gland, and blood vessels, and is classified into more than 150 types. It is divided into benign and malignant, and the benign one has a slow growth rate and the boundary with normal tissue is clearly divided. Malignancy is rapidly growing and spreads like immersion in the surrounding tissue, and the boundaries are not clear. Benign cases tend to occur in the tissues outside the brain, while malignant ones tend to occur in the brain. Brain tumors are classified into grades 1 to 4 according to the degree of malignancy, with grade 1 being benign and grades 2-4 being malignant.

metastatic brain tumor

What is a metastatic brain tumor?

It is a brain tumor that has spread to the brain through blood flow from lung cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, etc. It is a brain tumor that is often malignant.

brain tumor symptoms

What symptoms can a brain tumor cause?

When a brain tumor grows, the brain swells and the pressure inside the skull increases. In a brain tumor, you can see cranial hyperplasia caused by increased pressure within the skull and local symptoms caused by the brain tumor itself disrupting brain cells. Symptoms progress slowly. Convulsive seizures may also occur.

Symptoms of hyperbaric cranial pressure

What are the symptoms of hyperbaric intracranial pressure?

It is a condition in which pressure in the brain increases as a tumor in the brain covered with a hard skull grows. In many cases of brain tumors, symptoms such as headache, vomiting, nausea, blurred vision, and blurred vision are common. Because the pressure within the skull rises slightly during sleep, headaches tend to be intense when waking up. It is also characterized by the accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, which often complicates hydrocephalus, in which the ventricles are enlarged.

local symptoms

What are local symptoms?

It is a symptom caused by impaired brain function in the area where the brain tumor is located or where the brain is swollen. Depending on which part of the brain is affected, symptoms may include:

numbness of the face and limbs
sensory impairment
pins and needles
impairment of vision or vision
can't understand, can't speak
date and place unknown
loss of concentration
deterioration of memory
fail to count
don't know the name of the thing
swallowing disorder
hearing impairment
stagger
gait disorder
Loss of attention to either left or right (ignoring hemilateral space)

convulsive seizures

What are the symptoms of convulsive seizures?

In the case of a brain tumor in the cerebrum, it is a symptom caused by electrical activity by stimulating nearby nerve cells. Also called epileptic seizures or convulsive seizures. Depending on the part of the brain being stimulated, symptoms such as trembling in one hand or foot or the inability to speak appear unintentionally. When abnormal excitation of nerve cells spreads throughout the brain, it causes loss of consciousness and general convulsions.

Causes of brain tumors

What are the causes of brain tumors?

The exact cause is unknown, and it is thought to be a genetic mutation. A higher risk of developing a brain tumor is if someone has cancer outside the brain or has had a brain tumor at home. Tumor progression is associated with excessive consumption of high-protein and high-fat foods, smoking, and excessive stress.

typical brain tumor

What are the most common diseases of brain tumors?

The major naive brain tumors include meningioma, glioma, schwannoma, and pituitary gland tumor.

meningioma

What type of brain tumor is meningioma?

It is the most common brain tumor among naive brain tumors. It is a tumor that develops in the meninges that line the brain inside the skull. Most cases are benign, but there are rare cases of malignancy. When the tumor is small, there are no symptoms. It is sometimes discovered incidentally during a brain examination or a CT or MRI scan when the head is injured.

glioma

What kind of brain tumor is a glioma?

Gliomara is the most common malignant brain tumor. It occurs in glial cells (glia cells) that help the activity or action of nerve cells in the brain. The prognosis is poor for the adult species, called glioblastoma of grade 4 malignancy, which is broadly classified into adult and absent dendritic glioma.

pituitary adenoma

What kind of brain tumor is referred to as a pituitary adenoma?

A brain tumor in the center of the brain where the part of the pituitary gland involved in the secretion of hormones is tumorigenic. The majority of pituitary adenomas are benign. It can be divided into non-functional pituitary adenomas that do not secrete hormones and hormone-producing adenomas that secrete hormones excessively. A nonfunctional pituitary adenoma compresses the optic nerve, causing vision impairment. You may also see symptoms such as decreased body hair due to disruption of hormone production. Hormone-producing adenomas have different symptoms depending on the hormone secreted.

Growth hormone: acromegaly
Prolactin: lactation, menstrual irregularity, sexual dysfunction, etc.
Adrenocorticotropic hormone: Cushing's disease, etc.

nerve adenoma

What kind of brain tumor is a schwannoma?

It is a brain tumor that arises from a sheath that surrounds and protects nerves from the brain. There are many auditory nerve manipulations that occur in the vestibular nerve, the auditory nerve. Symptoms include hearing loss, dizziness, wheezing, tinnitus, and facial paralysis.

Brain Tumor Examination Subjects

What department should I see if I have symptoms that suggest a brain tumor?

Brain tumors are specialized in cerebrospinal cord tumors, brain neurosurgery, and cancer centers. If you experience headaches, nausea, difficulty speaking, numbness in the limbs, sensory disturbances, numbness, tremors like drunkenness, or convulsive seizures, seek medical attention immediately. There are many types of brain tumors, and treatment options vary depending on the type of brain tumor or the policy of a medical institution. It is also important to check and talk with your doctor about the risks of each treatment.

Tests done for brain tumors

What tests are done for brain tumors?

CT and MRI examinations are performed. CT angiography using a contrast agent can investigate the relationship between tumors and blood vessels in the brain. MRI can determine the relationship between the location of the tumor and areas of the brain involved in hand-foot movement or speech function. Confirmatory diagnosis is made by taking tumor tissue by surgery or biopsy and observing cells one by one under a microscope. If the tumor is near the area responsible for speech function, angiography of the brain may be done to determine which hemisphere of the brain involved in speech is on the left or right side. PET is used to differentiate between cerebral infarction or brain tumor. Benign tumors such as meningioma or pituitary adenoma are often discovered incidentally during brain examination.

Sex and age differences in brain tumors

Are there differences in brain tumors such as gender and age?

The morbidity rate of brain tumors per 100,000 population is 4.7 cases, which is a small rate. By gender, 5.2 cases for men and 4.3 cases for women tend to be somewhat higher among men. The morbidity rate by age is high in both men and women in their 70s and 90s, and it is especially common in their 80s. The mortality rate for brain tumors per 100,000 population is 2.3 cases, 2.7 cases for men and 1.9 cases for women.

brain tumor treatment

What are the treatment options for brain tumors?

The size and location of the tumor, symptoms, age, concomitant diseases, the type and malignancy of the tumor, etc. determine the need for treatment and treatment method. Treatment includes surgery, radiation therapy, and drug therapy. Even after treatment is complete, regular visits to the hospital to follow the progress and lifestyle habits that promote brain tumor progression require improvement.

Operation

What kind of treatment is surgery?

Tumors are removed as much as possible. However, if the removal of the tumor is predicted to affect the movement or language of the limbs, do not take it excessively. In order to accurately determine the location of the tumor, methods such as using a navigation device during surgery, monitoring motor and sensory functions, and performing surgery while talking to the patient and checking the movement of limbs and speech have been introduced.

radiation therapy

What is radiation therapy?

It is a treatment in which only the tumor is irradiated with high-energy X-rays or radiation. Sometimes it is done in combination with surgery or drug therapy. Since malignant tumors do not have clear boundaries with normal tissues, investigations are conducted with some normal tissues as well.

Benign tumors are treated with stereotactic radiotherapy that can be controlled in millimeters using special devices called gamma knives and cyber knives so that only the tumor can be irradiated. Side effects of radiation therapy include dermatitis at the irradiation site, otitis media, otitis externa, hair loss, body drowsiness, vomiting, nausea, and decreased appetite.

drug therapy

What is drug therapy?

For malignant tumors, cytotoxic anticancer drugs or molecular targeting agents are used. In principle, no drug treatment is given for benign cases, but drug therapy may be given for some pituitary adenomas. Steroid treatment for brain edema can only provide temporary effects. Drug therapy is selected according to the condition of the body or tumor for treatment with side effects.

organize

Brain tumors can arise from tissue in the brain or from cancer that metastasizes. It is divided into benign and malignant, and in both cases, surgery is performed to excise the tumor as much as possible. However, depending on the location of the tumor, the function of the body or speech may be impaired.In some cases, it cannot be removed by surgery. In some cases, brain tumors are discovered incidentally during a brain examination or CT or MRI due to a head injury. Since tumor progression is related to lifestyle, let's cultivate a healthy lifestyle

Symptoms and causes of brain tumors, typical diseases, and treatment methods