Brain Tumor Symptoms and Treatment Methods
Brain tumors are divided into two groups: benign and malignant.
Brain tumors are divided into two groups: benign and malignant. Benign tumors are generally easier to treat because it is often possible to remove them entirely with surgical methods. The likelihood of recurrence and regrowth is much lower than malignant tumors.
Malignant brain tumors consist of cells that destroy surrounding tissues and proliferate repetitively. While some of them originate from the brain’s own cells, some appear by spreading to the brain from another part of the body. Cancer cells in other organs, such as lung, breast, liver, stomach, uterus, etc. When tumor cells come to the brain and cause disease, this is called metastasis in medical terms. If tumors consist of the brain’s own cells, they are called primary brain tumors. Metastatic brain tumors are mentioned when tumors that develop in other systems of the body spread to the brain (metastasize) and form a tumor.
Although brain tumors that are malignant and originate from the brain’s own cells do not spread to other parts of the body, they can spread to distant parts of the brain or spinal cord. Since tumor cells spread along the brain cell fibers invisibly, it is often not possible to remove them completely. They can cause problems in different parts of the nervous system, both by spreading between cells and through the cerebrospinal fluid.
The reason why brain tumors develop is unknown. Possibilities such as environmental factors, hereditary characteristics and viral causes are being investigated. Studies conducted in large population groups have found that primary brain tumors develop in nine out of every hundred thousand individuals every year. Tumors that spread to the brain from other systems of the body also have the same rate. Recently, an increase in metastatic tumors has occurred. There are different reasons for this. The most important factors are; Prolonging the lifespan of cancer patients and detecting tumors thanks to advanced imaging techniques.
What are the symptoms?
Signs and symptoms generally depend on the size of the tumor and the affected area of the brain. As the tumor continues to grow, it may affect other parts of the brain and cause new symptoms and findings. Signs and symptoms sometimes develop so slowly that a long period of time can pass between the time the tumor begins to grow and the diagnosis is made.
When a tumor develops in the brain, the skull cannot expand and the tumor grows by putting pressure on the brain. Severe headaches develop due to increased intracranial pressure. The patient wakes up with a headache in the morning. The pain decreases throughout the day. Vomiting is the other most common symptom. The patient usually starts vomiting when he wakes up in the morning. A general state of stagnation and lethargy occurs. The coordination of movements is disrupted. Different types of epileptic seizures may occur.
In addition, depending on the location of the tumor, many complaints such as visual disturbances, ringing in the ears or deafness, loss of the sense of smell, speech disorders, weakness in the arms and legs of the body may also develop.
What are the Risk Factors?
Primary brain tumors can occur at any age. Metastatic brain tumors occur mostly in adults. Primary brain tumors are the second most common cause of death from cancer in children up to 15 years of age. These tumors occur quite frequently, especially in the first 10 years of age.
It is also expressed as the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in adults between the ages of 15-34. Primary brain tumors are the third most common cause of cancer death in adults aged 35-54.
The exact cause of brain tumors is unknown. Some factors such as radiation, some chemicals, viruses, and chromosome changes can be mentioned.
How Is It Treated?
Treatment of brain tumors requires physicians such as neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists, and experienced nurses to work together with the necessary equipment.
After various diagnostic examinations, one or more treatment methods may come to the fore. The main treatment methods for brain tumors are surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Any of these methods can be applied alone or in combination.
Surgical Intervention: The first choice and most effective treatment method for brain tumors is surgical removal of the tumor. Today, thanks to developing technology, tumor surgery has made great progress. Thanks to the operating microscope, it is possible to remove tumors in the deepest and most sensitive areas. However, with the use of the Neuronavigation device, it is now easier to remove especially deep-seated and small tumors. With the help of three-dimensional patient images uploaded to the navigation device’s computer, smaller incisions are used with minimal damage to normal brain tissue. Thus, it has become possible to remove many tumors that were previously considered inaccessible. With surgery performed on a benign tumor, the tumor is completely removed and the patient regains his health. Malignant brain tumors spread to neighboring tissues. For this reason, its borders cannot be clearly distinguished. Sometimes, all tumors are not removed due to their malignancy or the location where they are located, and some of them are left in place. In this way, by partially removing the tumor, the patient’s complaints are reduced and the pressure inside the head is reduced. In addition, the remaining small tumor mass responds better to other treatment methods, and tissue diagnosis allows a definitive diagnosis of the disease to be made. However, surgical removal of most of the tumor has the effect of prolonging the patient’s life and improving its quality. The cell type is precisely determined by examining the removed mass under a microscope by pathologists using different staining techniques.
Radiation therapy: The majority of tumor cells are sensitive to radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is based on the principle of killing tumor cells in a way that does not harm normal tissues, and various methods such as conventional radiation therapy, intratumoral radiation therapy and Cyberknife® are used in practice. These methods have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Chemotherapy: A treatment method using drugs that have the ability to kill tumor cells. Chemotherapy can be applied before and after surgical treatment or radiation therapy. Which drugs will be used together and how they will be used varies depending on the tumor type. At this point, the cooperation of the oncologist and neurosurgeon is of great importance.
