Adult Brain Tumors

Adult brain tumor facts*

*Adult brain tumor facts Medically Edited by: Charles P. Davis, MD, PhD

The brain is a soft mass of tissue that has three major parts, the cerebrum, cerebellum and the brain stem, all of which are effectively surrounded and protected by the bones of the skull; the brain is the tissue that controls people's voluntary and involuntary actions.

Cancer is the unregulated growth of abnormal cells in the body (cancer cells are also termed malignant cells).

Malignant brain tumors contain cancer cells; benign brain tumors do not contain cancer cells but do contain abnormally replicating cells that do not metastasize (spread to other organs) but may still cause problems, often because of their size and are regulated to grow in a specific area.

Primary brain tumors are composed of abnormal types of brain cells with unregulated growth; the most common type is termed gliomas that arise from brain glial cells, but there are many other types (for example, astrocytomas, ependymomas, medulloblastomas and others).

Secondary brain tumors are tumors that have spread to the brain tissue, but are composed of cancer cells from other organs (for example, breast, lung).

The exact cause of brain tumors is unknown; however, people at higher risk for them are children and the elderly, white males, people with family members that have brain tumors, radiation exposure, and exposures to many different chemicals.

Symptoms of brain tumors, many of which are non-specific and occur in other diseases, may include headaches, nausea, vomiting, speech, hearing or vision changes, memory problems, personality changes and paresthesias (an abnormal sensation of the skin such as numbness, tingling, prickling, burning, or creeping on the skin that has no objective cause).

Brain tumors are diagnosed preliminarily by many methods including detailed physical exam, CT and/or MRI exams, angiograms, and X-rays; definitive diagnosis is by removing tissue from the tumor (tumor biopsy) and examining the cells microscopically.

Treatment choices for a brain tumor depends on joint decisions made by the patient and the patient's physician team (team members may include oncologists, surgeons, therapists and others the patient may choose, including other doctors who may give a second opinion); treatment methods are based on the individual's disease and may consist of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, combinations of these methods or no treatment.

Side effects of treatments are common and numerous but vary from patient to patient depending on the disease, method(s) used and the effectiveness of medications and other methods to reduce them; some of the most common side effects are weakness, nausea, edema, skin changes and hair loss but may include more serious problems such as infections, seizures, disabilities such as speech problems, mental changes and occasionally, death.

Rehabilitation is frequently included in the treatment plan; specialists like physical, occupational and speech therapists can help the patient improve.

Follow-up appointments are part of the treatment plan for brain tumors to catch any recurrent disease and to help with rehabilitation treatments.

Support groups are available to patients with brain tumors and to patients who have and are undergoing treatments; for example, the American Cancer Society, American Brain Tumor Society.

What are adult brain tumors?

Adult brain tumors are diseases in which cancer (malignant) cells begin to grow in the tissues of the brain. The brain controls memory and learning, senses (hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch), and emotion. It also controls other parts of the body, including muscles, organs, and blood vessels. Tumors that start in the brain are called primary brain tumors.


What are metastatic brain tumors?

Often, tumors found in the brain have started somewhere else in the body and spread (metastasized) to the brain. These are called metastatic brain tumors.