Brain Tumors

A brain tumor is a collection of abnormal cells that grows in or around the brain. It poses a risk to the healthy brain by either invading or destroying normal brain tissue or by compressing and displacing the brain. Since the brain is enclosed inside the skull which has a fixed amount of space, a growing brain tumor can cause significant damage to the brain. Brain tumors can be malignant (also called brain cancer) or benign (do not contain cancer cells). They may be primary (beginning within the brain) or metastatic (cancer cells elsewhere in the body travel to the brain). Some of these tumors can spread and involve the spinal cord — an extension of the brain. Brain tumors are classified based on where the tumor is located, the type of tissue involved, whether the tumor is benign or malignant, and other factors. If a tumor is determined malignant, the tumor cells are examined under a microscope to determine how malignant they are. Markers that reflect genetic mutations (gene defects) which can predict tumor behavior and their response to therapy are now tested for routinely. Based on this analysis, tumors are rated, or graded, by their level of malignancy from least to most malignant. Factors that determine the tumor grade include how fast the cells are growing, how much blood is supplying the cells, the presence of dead cells in the middle of the tumor (necrosis), if the cells are confined to a specific area, and how similar the cancerous cells are to normal cells. Many of these tumor characteristics can also be predicted by their appearance on various imaging tests. The cause of primary brain tumors is unknown. Environmental and genetic factors may cause some brain tumors. Prior exposure to radiation therapy as a child seems to be a contributing cause in very few patients. The challenges to be faced in the brain tumor will be analyzed by the experts to overcome the brain cancer in Neuro Forum 2023.