Today, patients with brain tumor specific complaints and findings apply to physicians in neurological branches. What these physicians do; Brain tumor diagnosis can be made quickly and easily with a good history, neurological examination and related imaging methods (CT, MRI). In the treatment, the physician who performs brain tumor surgery decides which treatment (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy) is appropriate as a result of the council consultation with all the data of the patient with other physicians (radiation oncologist, medical oncologist, pathologist, radiologist). If the surgical treatment method is performed in experienced hands in benign tumors, if the entire tumor is removed, the result of the operation is excellent. Surgical treatment results are good-excellent in slow-growing tumors. The aim of all 3 treatment methods in rapidly growing malignant tumors is to prolong the life span. Surgical treatment today, the results of the surgeries performed in advanced centers equipped with high technologies and in experienced hands are excellent. As a result, the treatment of brain tumor should not be feared, but should be feared without delay in diagnosis. By going to an experienced neurosurgeon who can make a brain tumor, the duration of brain tumor surgery is shortened and the patient can return to work earlier.
What is a brain tumor?
Tumors consisting of the brain tissue itself, nerves in the brain, membranes in the brain, skull bone surrounding the brain or muscle tissue around the skull, primary (primary) brain tumor of the brain or other organ cancers that spread to the brain from another organ of the body (lung, breast, prostate, etc.). It is called metastasis or secondary brain tumor.
How does a brain tumor occur?
As in all organs in the body, tumors arise from cells in the brain. Normally, cells develop, grow and age, or die, and new cells are made instead. However, in abnormal situations, when this production and destruction process starts to work differently, when the cells that are not needed start to be made or because the cells that are made do not die on time, the unnecessary excess cell accumulation begins to cluster, so that a formation called a tumor emerges in that organ, which is called a tumor. Since not every tumor can be called cancer, those formed from the brain are called brain tumors.
How many types of brain tumors are there?
1 – Primary (primary) brain tumor
Benign brain tumor (meningioma, schwanoma, dermoid epidermoid cysts)
Malignant brain tumor (from glial tumors, anaplastic and glioblastoma multiforme)
2- Secondary (secondary) brain tumor
These tumors, called metastases, are cancers that spread to the brain from other organs of the body.
Benign brain tumors
These tumors are tumors from the brain membranes (menengioma) or nerves in the brain (schwanoma), congenital residual tumors (dermoid, epidermoid cyst), and the surgical treatment results of these tumors are excellent.
malignant brain tumors
They are abnormal or rapidly growing brain tumors and because they grow rapidly, they spread into healthy brain cells. Although the treatment results of these tumors vary depending on the location, extent and accompanying risk factors of the tumor, the life span is extended.
Can cancer in another organ spread to the brain?
Such brain tumors are called metastatic brain tumors, and cancerous tissue in other organs of the body (lung, breast, prostate, stomach and intestines) can spread to the brain. 25% of all cancers metastasize to the brain.
What causes a brain tumor? Who is it more common in?
Although it is not known that it is usually caused by brain tumors, it is well known that some brain tumors (Von – Hippel Lindau) are hereditary (genetic). However, there are some predisposing risk factors in the formation of brain tumors: Risk factors; Gender: Brain tumors are more common in men, but meningiomas are more common in women.
Race: All brain tumors are more common in Caucasians.
Age: The incidence of brain tumors is higher in people over 70 years of age, and cerebellum tumors in the cerebellum are more common in children under the age of 10.
Family history: Individuals with a family history of brain glioma are more likely to have a brain tumor. Apart from these, head trauma, exposure to radiation, some viruses, some chemical azo dyes, and some hormones are known as risk factors for brain tumor formation.
What are the most common symptoms of brain tumors?
Headache (especially at night)
Nausea, vomiting, double vision, blurred vision
Fainting (episodic seizures)
Balance and gait disorders
Numbness, tingling, or loss of strength in the arms and legs
Forgetfulness, personality disorders, speech disorders
How is a brain tumor diagnosed?
Today, the diagnosis of brain tumor is made very easily and quickly.
Neurological examination: It is very important to make a good history, general or neurological examination in people with the above-mentioned brain tumor complaints and findings.
Examination methods used in diagnosis: brain tomography (CT), brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). With these test methods, information about the location, type, size and size of the brain tumor is obtained quickly and in a short time.
Biopsy: Brain biopsy is needed to diagnose some brain tumors.
What are the treatment options for brain tumors?
Although it varies according to the type, location and size of the brain tumor, 3 different methods such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are applied among the treatment options.
In which brain tumors is surgical intervention performed?
As a general rule, surgical intervention is the gold standard method in all benign tumors, depending on the location of the tumor. However, according to the type of tumor, radiotherapy and chemotherapy after surgical treatment are additional treatment methods applied after surgery.
What is the success rate in brain tumor surgeries?
As a general rule, in patients with benign brain tumors whose tumor can be completely removed in accordance with the experience of the surgical team, the results are excellent and no other treatment option is required. However, if the tumor cannot be completely removed by surgery in malignant brain tumors, postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy are applied. The aim of all 3 treatments in this group of tumors is to prolong the life span.
How is radiation therapy performed in brain tumors?
As radiotherapy is applied to the whole brain, in some tumors, high-energy rays (x-ray, gamma-ray, proton) are applied by methods such as stereotaxic radiotherapy, depending on the type and location of the tumor. Radiotherapy is usually performed in the first month after surgery. The purpose of this treatment is to kill tumor cells or suppress their growth. Very rarely, patients who cannot be operated on according to the location of the tumor can be treated with radiation therapy. The application scheme of radiotherapy varies according to the type and diameter of the tumor, the age of the patient, and neurological findings. It is important to preserve the intact brain tissue around the tumor while administering radiotherapy.