Brain cancer, symptoms and signs of identification

Although suffering from any cancer causes fear and anxiety for patients and relatives. Brain cancer is actually a serious disease, but often it can be treated for positive results. Knowing the cause, symptoms of brain cancer can help patients identify and detect early with the signs they are having and have appropriate treatment directions.

What is brain cancer?

Brain cancer is a general concept that only malignant tumors in the brain contain cancer cells. They affect life functions and are rare for life. These tumors often grow quickly and invade nearby tissue. Like a plant, these tumors can 'root' into the healthy tissue of the brain.If the brain tumor is fried and has no roots, it is a tumor with a covering. In areas that govern brain function and influence these functions, they can also be considered malignant tumors (although they do not contain cancer cells).

Symptoms of brain cancer

Symptoms of brain cancer depend primarily on the size and location of the tumor in the brain . Symptoms appear due to damage to brain tissue, which controls vital vital functions or by brain compression because the tumor grows in the limited space of the skull. Symptoms may be due to edema around the tumor or due to hydrocephalus, ie the tumor interferes with cerebrospinal fluid and causes fluid retention in the brain. If brain tumors develop slowly, their symptoms may appear so slowly that they are ignored for a long time.

Common symptoms

At an early stage, most brain tumors often lead to headaches and feeling sick (nausea). Symptoms appear often due to increased pressure on the brain area due to tumor growth. Pressure increase is called increased intracranial pressure (ICP).

Of course there are many other reasons for headaches and feeling sick, but if you suffer from such a few weeks without showing signs of improvement, it is very necessary to see a doctor.

Brain cancer is a general concept that only malignant tumors in the brain contain cancer cells.

Severe headaches often come in the morning and often wake you up. Usually headaches of this type will decrease over the day. However, it can be more painful when you cough, sneeze, bend down or do other heavy work. All of these things tend to increase pressure on the brain.

If the pressure increase makes you sick, you will get worse in the morning, relieve it during the day, sometimes it will make you hiccup. As described above, increasing pressure in the skull also disrupts your vision causing you to be confused and affect your ability to balance.

Another common sign of brain tumors is epilepsy leading to syncope , contractions or unconscious times. Having pain can be very intense but not necessarily due to a brain tumor. However, you need to go to the medical room to check the exact cause and take appropriate treatment.

Symptoms related to the location of the tumor

Some symptoms may be caused by tumors in specific areas of the brain. In general, each area of ​​the brain controls certain functions, and tumors can interfere with normal brain activity.

Some of the symptoms of brain tumors listed below follow groups under different parts of the brain. It is only a guide, accurate diagnosis will be done by doctors through tests. There is a diagram describing the different functions of each region of the brain.

1. Frontal lobe : Change in personality and intelligence. Going in a straight line or debilitating on one side. Loss of smell, sometimes difficult to pronounce.
2. Peak lobe : Difficulty in expressing or understanding words, having problems in reading or writing. Difficulty in implementing coordinated moves. Paralysis or weakening of a person.
3. Impervious lobe : Loss of one-sided vision. This sign may not be immediately recognizable and is sometimes detected during eye tests.
4. Temporal lobe : Pain can lead to strange feelings: A feeling of fear or fear of familiar things, strange smells or darkness of the nose. Sometimes it is difficult to pronounce.
5. Cerebellar U : Lack of coordination that affects walking and pronunciation (paranormal disorder), staggering, unintentional island eyes (eyeball jerks). Vomiting and entanglement.
6. Brain stalks : Disoriented and not combined in steps. Face deformed, smiling one side or drooping eyelids. Look at one of the two, some with vomiting or headache after walking, difficulty speaking and swallowing. These symptoms may appear gradually.

All of these symptoms can be caused by other causes that are not brain tumors. If you see any signs as described, urgently see a doctor.

Personality changes: Sometimes brain tumors can lead to changes in personality and behavior. Its symptoms may appear when the tumor is in the hemisphere. This situation can frighten patients and their families. Sometimes it is necessary to seek psychological help to determine the level and find a way to treat it.

In general, the most common symptoms of brain tumors can be summarized as follows:

1. Headache, especially in the morning and gradually improve during the day.
2. Convulsions.
3. Nausea or vomiting.
4. Weakness or loss of sensation in the arms or legs.
5. Loss of balance when walking.
6. Unusual eyeball movement or visual changes.
7. Sleepy.
8. Change personality or memory.
9. Change language.

These symptoms can be caused by brain tumors but can also be caused by other diseases. Only a doctor can make a diagnosis.

Primary brain tumor

Tumors that start in brain tissue are called primary brain tumors. It is different from the secondary tumor that the tumor appears when cancer spreads to the brain. Primary brain tumors are classified according to the type of tissue where they appear. The most common type of brain tumor is a glioma derived from cushioned tissue . There are many types of stromal tumors:

1. Astrocytes are derived from small, astrocytic cells (called astrocyt). Star-shaped tumor cells can develop everywhere in the brain or spinal cord. In adults, astrocytes are usually present in the brain. In children, they occur in the brainstem, brain, and cerebellum. Class III astrocytes can be called non-differentiated astrocytes . Grade IV astrocyte tumors are often referred to as multiple glioblastomas .
2. Glioma in the brain stem appears in the brain stem. The brain stem controls many important vital functions. Tumors in this area are generally not removed. Most brain stem gliomas are high-grade astrocytes.
3. Ventricular cysts usually develop in the lining of the ventricular lining, they can also appear in the spinal cord. Although they can develop at any age, they are most common in children and young people.
4. U dendritic glioma cells appear from cells that produce myelin - the nerve-protecting code envelope. These tumors often appear in the brain. They grow slowly and often do not spread to nearby brain tissue. Dendritic gliomas with dendritic spines are rare. They are most common in middle age but have found cases of this type of cancer at any age.

Symptoms of brain cancer depend mainly on the size and location of the tumor in the brain.

There are other types of brain tumors that do not come from stromal tissue. Some of the most common cancers are shown below:

1. The fibroblast tumor was previously thought to develop from buffered cells. However, recent studies have shown that these tumors develop from primordial neurons, which normally do not remain in the body after the baby is born. For this reason, tumor cell tumors are sometimes called primitive lung neuronal tumors (PNET) . Most myeloma occurs in the cerebellum; however, they can also appear in other brain regions. These tumors often appear in children and are more common in boys than girls.
2. Meninges develop in the meninges . They are usually benign tumors. Because these tumors grow slowly, they can be adjusted to them; Meningeal tumors usually grow quite large before they cause symptoms, they often occur in women aged 30-50.
3. Schwann cell tumors are benign tumors derived from neuronal cells Schwann are cells that produce the myelin that protects the auditory nerve, the auditory nerve tumor is a type of Schwann cell tumor. They mainly appear in adults. This type of cancer is twice as common in women as men.
4. The skull is most likely to develop in the pituitary region near the hypothalamus. They are usually benign; however, they are sometimes considered malignant because they can pinch or destroy the hypothalamus, which affects the vital life functions of the body. These tumors are most common in children and young adults.
5. Germ cell tumors originate from primordial germ cells (genital cells). The most common type of germ cell cancer in the brain is germ cell tumors.
6. U pineal gland that appears in or around the pineal gland is a small part near the center of the brain. The tumor may be a slow-growing pineal gland tumor or a rapidly developing glandular tumor. The pineal gland area is very difficult to access and these tumors are often unable to be removed.

Secondary brain tumor

Metastasis is the spread of cancer. Cancer comes from another part of the body that can spread into the brain and form a secondary tumor. These tumors are not the same as primary brain tumors. Cancer spreads to the brain with the same name as the original (primary) cancer. For example, if lung cancer spreads to the brain, brain tumors are metastatic lung cancer because cells in the secondary tumor are abnormal lung cells, not abnormal brain cells. Treatment for secondary cancer depends on the location of the primary cancer and its spread, as well as other factors including the age, general health status of the patient and response to previous treatment.