Malignant Tumor - Symptoms, Causes And Treatment!

Malignant tumor is a tumor which is cancerous. This type of tumor has the ability to multiply in an uncontrollable manner and spread to different parts of the body. Malignant tumors invade the surrounding tissues. The difference between a malignant tumor and a benign tumor is that a malignant tumor will expand a invade the surrounding tissues but a benign tumor does not invade the surrounding tissues and is self contained.
A malignant tumor is in most cases capable of producing metastases and may recur after attempts of removing it. In most cases a malignant tumor causes the death of the person unless the tumor is adequately treated.

Signs and symptoms- There are many signs and symptoms which indicate the presence of a malignant tumor in the body.

• If a person is suffering from severe headaches which are persistent as well and no definite cause of the headaches are being found then that can be a sign of a malignant tumor.
• A malignant tumor may even cause nausea, drowsiness and vomiting. Constant occurrences of these conditions may indicate the presence of a malignant tumor.
• Malignant tumor can cause the person affected with it to suffer from weakness which is progressive in nature and may even cause paralysis affecting a side of the body.
• Problems related to speech and vision are other signs and symptoms of the presence of a malignant tumor.

Causes- There are many factors which cause malignant tumors in the body. One of the major causes of tumors are genes.

• Genetics are a big cause of malignant tumors. Some forms of cancer have been linked directly to genes.
• Malignant tumors can be caused when there are changes in the DNA and the resulting change results in the improper function of the tumor suppressing genes and thus tumors form which then become malignant.
• Malignant tumors can also be caused by the lifestyle of the affected person. The diet of the person plays a big role. An increases in the stress level in a person can also cause malignant tumors.

Diagnosis- If the doctor suspects that there is a malignant tumor then he can diagnose the patient on the basis of the results achieved after the biopsy of the cells of the tumor. If the results state that the tumor is a malignant then the doctor can diagnose the patient with malignant tumor.

Treatment- Treatment of a malignant tumor is determined by taking certain factors into consideration like location, size and stage of the tumor. The patient’s health is also taken into consideration.

Some of the common methods of treatment are radiation, chemotherapy, surgery and hormone therapy. Surgery can at times be the best method of treatment as it can prevent a recurrence.