Brain Cancer - All You Need To Know!

Once a brain tumor develops, it puts pressure on the surrounding brain tissue, and so symptoms will depend on the area that the pressure is exerted on. There is a general feeling of fullness in the head, causing a headache. Morning vomiting without nausea is another symptom. Other symptoms may include cognitive difficulties, uncoordinated muscle movements, and problems walking and talking. Brain tumor can cause personality changes, so sudden changes in personality can be a sign of the onset of the same.

What exactly causes brain tumor is not known. However, there are some risk factors that are known to increase the likelihood of developing blood cancer. These include strong family history, exposure to ionizing radiation, chemicals like pesticides and vinyl chloride up the risk of developing a brain tumor. If you have cancer in any part of the body, it is advisable to check for metastasis as a brain tumor is often a secondary tumor that spreads from some other part of the body. About 40 % of brain tumor develops in the brain itself and rests come from different parts of the body. Grade 1 and 2 brain tumors have very good cure rates with patient surviving for many years. In grade 3, survival is not that good and grade 4 is dangerous.

The most severe form of brain tumor is glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and is known to kill about 95% of the affected people. However, with advanced clinical trials that are aimed at identifying factors that cause resistance and preventing the spread of the disease by reducing blood supply. This is known as AGILE ((Adaptive Global Innovative Learning Environment) and is believed to soon increase survival rates of brain tumors. Identifying and treating brain tumor is definitely a challenge to the medical world; however, significant progress has been made. An early diagnosis improves chances of complete cure to a large extent.

Conventionally, the prognosis of brain tumor has not been very good. Glioblastoma, the most common form of brain tumor, has a 5-year survival rate of about 6%. It is not very different for other forms of brain tumor either. However, with clinical trials progressing very rapidly, there are newer options that aim at controlling the spread and identifying ways to treat resistance of the tumor to therapy. The solace factor is that brain tumors are very rare, and watching out for metastasis in case you have cancer elsewhere is a prudent way to manage brain cancer.