Identifying a Brain Tumor (degrees - staging - tests doctors- types) Brain cancer treatment

Identifying a Brain Tumor (degrees - staging - tests doctors- types) Brain cancer treatment 

indentifying a Brain Tumor Brain Caner Types,Treatment

Facts About Brain Cancer

• Brain cancer can result from different types of brain cells (primary brain cancer) or occur when cancer cells elsewhere in the body spread (metastases) to the brain. Brain cancers are true ones that arise in the brain itself.
• The degrees of brain cancer indicate how aggressive cancer.
• Type of brain cancer indicates what type of brain cells that gave rise to the tumor.
• Staging of brain cancers indicates the extent of the spread of cancer.
• The causes of brain cancer are hard to prove; It is advisable to avoid compounds related to the production of cancer.

• The symptoms of brain cancer vary, but often include
• weakness,
• Difficulty walking and / or dizziness,
• Seizures and
• Headache
• Other common symptoms of brain cancer are
• nausea;
• vomiting;
• blurry vision;
• A change in the alertness, mental capacity, memory, speech or personality of a person; and
• Some patients may hallucinate.
• Diagnostic tests for brain cancer involve a history, a physical examination, and most often a brain imaging CT or MRI; Sometimes a biopsy of the brain tissue is performed.
• The treatments are usually run by a team of doctors and are designed for the patient; Treatments may include surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy, often in combination.
• The side effects of treatments vary from mild to severe, and patients should discuss plans with the treatment team members to clearly understand the potential side effects and prognosis.
• Depending on the type of brain cancer and the overall health of the patient, brain cancer often has a poor prognosis; The children have a slightly better prognosis.

What is brain cancer?

Brain cancer is a brain disease in which cancer (malignant cells) occurs in brain tissue. Cancer cells develop to form a mass of cancerous tissue (tumor) that interferes with brain functions such as muscle control, sensation, memory and other normal bodily functions. Composed of tumors of cancer cells are called malignant tumors, and mainly composed of non-cancerous cells are called benign tumors. Cancerous cells that develop from brain tissue are called primary brain tumors whereas tumors that spread from other parts of the body are called brain metastases or secondary brain tumors. Statistics indicate that brain cancer is found just frequently (1.4% of all new cancer patients per year), so it is not considered a common condition and is likely to become about 23770 new Per year with approximately 16,050 deaths estimated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the American Cancer Society. Only about 5% of brain tumors may be due to hereditary genetic factors

Conditions such as neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, and some others.

What are the degrees of brain cancer?

All brain tumors are the same, even if they are derived from the same type of brain tissue. Tumors are attributed depending on how the tumor cells appear microscopically grade. The degree also provides information on the rate of cell growth. NCI indicates the following notes, from more aggressive benign (grade IV):

• Grade I: The tissue is benign. The cells almost resemble normal brain cells, and grow slowly.

• Grade II: The tissue is malignant. The cells appear less like normal cells of the cells of a grade I tumor.

• Grade III: Malignant tissue has cells that are very different from normal cells. Abnormal cells develop actively and have a distinctly abnormal (anaplastic) appearance.

• Level IV: Malignant tissue has cells that appear more abnormal and tend to grow rapidly

What are the types of brain cancer?

The most common primary brain tumors are commonly referred to as the type of brain tissue (including brain stem cancers) from which they were originally developed. These are gliomas, meningiomas, pituitary adenomas, vestibular schwannomas and primitive neuroectodermal tumors (medulloblastomas). Gliomas have several subtypes, including astrocytomas, oligodendrogliomas, ependymomas and choroid plexus papilloma. These names reflect different types of cells in the normal brain that can become cancers. When the notes come together with the name of the tumor, this gives doctors a better understanding of the severity of brain cancer. For example, a glioma III (anaplastic) score is an aggressive tumor, while an acoustic neuroma is a benign tumor grade I. However, even benign tumors can cause serious problems if they grow big enough to cause greater Pressure or intracranial vascular structures or obstruct the flow of the cerebrospinal fluid.

What is the staging of brain cancer?

Cancers of the brain are stages (stage describes the extent of cancer) depending on their type and cell degree because rarely spread to other organs, while other cancers, such as breast cancer or Lung, are arranged according with labels TMN classification which is based on the location and extent of cancer cells. In general, these cancer stages range from 0 to 4; In Step 4 that indicates that the cancer has reached another organ (the highest degree is 4).

What is Metastatic Brain Cancer?

Cancer cells that develop in an organ of the body such as the lung (primary cancer tissue type) can spread by direct extension or by the lymphatic system and / or bloodstream to other organs such as the brain. Tumors formed by cancer cells spread (metastasize) to other organs are called metastatic tumors. Metastatic brain is a mass of cells (tumors) that originated in another organ of the body and is propagated in the brain tissue. Metastatic brain tumors are more common than primary brain tumors. Usually they are given the name of the tissue or organ where developed cancer (eg, tumors of breast cancer or metastatic lung in the brain, which are the most common types found). From time to time, you can use a short name often confuses people; For example, "small cell brain cancer" means "small lung cancer that has metastasized cells in the brain. "People should not hesitate to ask your doctor about any term you do not understand or about the origin of their cancer.

What causes brain cancer?

Primary brain tumors come from many types of brain tissue (eg, glial cells, astrocytes, and other brain cells). Metastatic brain cancer is caused by the spread of cancer cells from an organ of the body to the brain. However, the causes of the change of normal cells into cancer cells in both primary tumors and the metastatic brain are not fully understood. The data collected by the researchers show that people with certain risk factors are more likely to develop brain cancer.

People with risk factors such as having a job at an oil refinery, jet fuel handlers or chemicals such as benzene, chemists, embalmers or rubber workers have High brain cancer the general population. Some families have several members with brain cancer, but heredity (genetic traits pass from parents to children) as a cause of brain tumors has not been tested. They suggested other risk factors such as smoking, exposure to radiation and viral infection (HIV), but has not been shown to cause 

brain damage 

What are brain cancer symptoms and signs?

Although there are few signs of early warning, common signs and symptoms of brain cancer may include one or more of the following:

Difficulty walking and / or dizziness / dizziness
convulsions
Muscle weakness (eg weakness of the arms and legs)
Headache (persistent and / or severe)
Other common symptoms that may occur include
nausea,
vomiting,
blurry vision,
A change in a person's alert state,
drowsiness,
Reduced mental capacity and / or confusion,
Memory problems,
Speech changes, such as speech impairment, speech disorders or the inability to speak,
Changes in personality,
hallucinations;
Weakness on one side of the body,
Problems of coordination,
tired
Feelings of needles and needles and / or reduced tactile sensation.

These symptoms can also occur in people with brain cancer, and none of these symptoms alone or in combination can predict that a person is suffering from brain cancer. Cancer can occur in a part of the brain (eg, occipital, frontal, parietal or temporal lobes, or brain stemmed meningeal membranes). Some brain cancers can produce little or no symptoms (eg, some tumors and the meningeal pituitary).

What types of doctors treat brain cancer?

Usually, the primary care physician or a pediatric patient helps to coordinate the physician treatment team to treat the patient individually. Treatment equipment may consist of oncologists, neurologists, oncologists, neurosurgeons and additional staff as physiotherapists and professionals and audiologists eventually depending on the outcome of early treatment. For patients who have terminal and / or brain cancer inoperable, palliative care and other organizations can help the patient and his family and friends coordinate supportive care.

What tests doctors use to diagnose brain cancer?

The first test is an interview that includes a history and a physical examination of the person by a health care provider. The results of this interaction will determine whether other specific tests should be performed.

The most commonly used to detect a brain cancer test is a CT scan. This test resembles a series of X-rays and is not painful, but sometimes a dye must be injected into a vein for better images of some internal brain structures. Another test that is gaining popularity because of its high sensitivity to detect anatomical changes in the brain is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This test also shows cerebral structures in detail better than CT. If tests show signs (tumors or abnormalities in brain tissue) of brain cancer, then other doctors and neurosurgeons and neurologists specializing in treating brain disorders, they will be consulted to determine what needs to be done to treat the patient. From time to time, a tissue sample (biopsy) can be obtained by surgery

Or the insertion of a needle to assist in diagnosis. Other tests (white cell count, electrolytes or cerebrospinal fluid examination for abnormal cells or increased intracranial pressure) may be ordered by a doctor to help determine the condition Or to detect other health problems.

What is the treatment of brain cancer?

A treatment plan is individualized for each patient with brain cancer. The treatment plan is built by doctors specialized in brain cancer, and treatments vary greatly depending on the type of cancer, brain location, tumor size, patient age and overall health of the patient. The patient. An important part of the plan is also determined by the will of the patient. Patients should discuss treatment options with their health care providers.

Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the main treatment categories for most brain cancers. Individual treatment plans often include a combination of these treatments. Surgical treatment attempts to eliminate all tumor cells by cutting the brain tissue from the normal tumor. This surgery involves opening the skull (craniotomy) is often called invasive surgery to distinguish non-invasive radiosurgery or radiotherapy as described below. Some brain cancers are called inoperable by surgeons because trying to eliminate cancer can cause other brain damage or death. However, a brain cancer called unusable by a surgeon may be considered usable by another surgeon. Patients diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor should consider seeking a second opinion before leaving surgical treatment.

Radiation therapy attempts to kill tumor cells by using high energy radiation concentrated on the tumor to destroy the ability of tumor cells to function and replicate. Radiosurgery is a non-surgical procedure that provides a single high dose of precisely directed radiation using highly focused gamma of X-rays that converge in the brain or specific area where the tumor or other abnormality rays from the areas or Minimizing the amount of radiation to healthy brain tissue. The equipment used to perform radiosurgery varies in its radiation source; A gamma knife uses targeted gamma rays, and a linear accelerator uses photons while heavy particulate radiosurgery uses a proton beam. Tomotherapy is a form of radiation therapy, in which radiation is delivered in a high degree of precision and individualized by minimizing radiation exposure to healthy tissue; It has also been used to treat brain cancer.

Chemotherapy attempts to kill tumor cells using chemicals (drugs) that are designed to destroy specific types of cancer cells. There are many chemicals used; Specific drug therapies are numerous, and each diet is usually designed for the specific type of brain and individualized for each patient's cancer. For example, bevacizumab (Avastin) is approved for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM). Chemotherapy may be administered intrathecally (in the spinal fluid through a lumbar puncture or by a permanent surgically placed deposit under the scalp connected by a sterile tube placed in chambers containing fluid in the brain by IV administration) And chemically impregnated with biodegradable polymers. All treatments try to save normal brain cells.

Other treatment options may include hyperthermia (heat treatment), immunotherapy (directed immune cells to kill certain types of cancer cells) or steroids to reduce inflammation and inflammation of the brain. These can be added to other treatment plans.

Clinical trials (treatment plans designed by scientists and doctors to test new chemicals or treatment methods in patients) may be another way for patients to get a specific treatment for your type of cancer cells. Clinical trials are part of the research effort to produce better treatments for all types of diseases. Strains cellular treatments for brain stem and brain stem and other conditions may be available, because research with patients is underway with these potential therapies. The best treatment for brain cancer is designed by the team of specialists in cancer with the wishes of the patient.