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What is Brain Cancer?
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
InstructionsTypesStep 1: There are two categories of brain tumors: benign and malignant. In patients with malignant brain tumors (or brain cancers), the cancer cells grow and spread quickly in the body. Although benign brain tumors do not grow as fast as malignant brain tumors, they are sometimes dangerous and life-threatening as they cause damages to various areas of the brain.
Brain cancer can be either primary or metastatic. Primary brain cancer originates in the brain. Metastatic brain cancer comes from another organ in the body, where the cancer cells metastasize and spread to the brain. Metastatic brain cancer accounts for 25% of patients with metastatic cancer. The incidence of metastatic brain cancer increases rapidly with age. Every year, there are 100,000 new cases of metastatic brain cancers in the U.S.
IdentificationStep 1: The symptoms of brain cancer include persistent headache, troubles in walking, troubles in speaking, nausea, weakness or numbness in certain body parts like arm, leg or face, memory loss, nervousness, inability to write and blurred vision.
The problem with diagnosing brain cancer and brain tumor is that there are too many symptoms and the symptoms are shared by other common diseases. The only way of knowing for sure whether a patient has brain cancer or not is to do CT-scan or a x-ray of his or her brain. MRI is also often used to diagnose brain cancer.
SignificanceStep 1: Brain cancer is the number one killer for cancer patients aged 35 and younger. Almost 50% of brain cancers are primary.
The choice of treatment for brain cancer depends on tumor location, patient age, the type of tumor. and the stage of the cancer. For patients with primary brain cancer, surgery is often used to remove the primary tumor with minimal damage to brain tissues. Surgery of brain cancer is often followed by either radiation, chemotherapy or both.
ConsiderationsStep 1: Exposure to vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, can lead to brain cancer. Avoid living in areas known to have elevated levels of vinyl chloride, for instance, near chemical processing plants. Workers in nuclear power plants are also at high risk for developing brain cancers due to exposure to radiation. Several genetic conditions are known to increase the risk of brain cancer, for instance retinoblastoma, Von Hippel-Lindau disease, and neurofibromatosis type 2.
Expert InsightStep 1: Brain cancer is responsible for 14 to 17% of cancer cases in children. Most of brain cancer in children are difficult to detect, particularly in small children. Most of the symptoms of brain cancer in children are often mistaken for other neurological or developmental conditions. It is important to learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of brain cancer in your children.
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