Brain Cancer

About Brain Cancer

The growth of malignant cells in the brain tissue that interferes with brain functions such as memory muscle control, sensation and other normal body functions lead to brain cancer. There are two types of tumor formed due to growth of cancer cells; a) Malignant Tumors, which is a cancerous tumor; and b) Benign tumors, which is non cancerous. Not all tumors are similar, so these are assigned different grades:

• Grade I: Normal looking brain cells that grow slowly. The tissue is benign.
• Grade II: The cells look less like normal cells than do the cells in a grade I tumor. The tissue is malignant.
• Grade III: The malignant tissue with abnormal cells which grow actively
• Grade IV: The malignant tissue has cells that look the most abnormal and have a tendency to grow quickly.

Based on cell type and grade, doctors define cancer stage, which ranges from 0-4. Stage 4 indicates cancer has spread to other organs.

Brain Cancer Causes:

The exact cause of brain cancer is not known. But there are certain risk factors that may cause the growth of cancerous cells. These are:

• Radiation to the head
• An inherited (genetic) risk
• HIV infection
• Cigarette smoking
• Environmental toxins (for instance, chemicals in oil refineries, embalming chemicals, rubber industry chemicals)

Symptoms

Symptoms of brain cancer depend on the grade and stage of the cancer. However, there are several early signs of brain cancer, some of which are:

• Weakness
• Difficulty walking and/or dizziness
• Seizures
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Blurry vision
• Change in a person’s alertness, mental capacity, memory, speech, or personality
• Hallucination (in certain cases)

How to prevent?

There is no remedy for brain cancer prevention. However, if diagnosed in an early stage, treatment can help in reducing the risk of metastatic brain tumors.