Brain Tumors - The Most Common Types of Brain Tumors(brain tumor treatments)

brain tumor treatments

There are many different types of brain tumors. Doctors use a method that is referred to as "Classification". This is nothing more than grouping the many different types of brain tumors according to the characteristics that they possess. Naturally, each of the tumors that affect the brain are issued a specific names.

Medical professionals and scientists use this particular classification system so that they may gather statistical data, uncover the underlying cause of the development of the various tumors that develop in the brain, and determine the treatment strategy for the tumors. Additionally, many may make a prognosis based on the information that they obtain from their studies. In this medical guide, you will learn about the most common types of brain tumors.

Acoustic Neuroma

Acoustic Neuroma is a tumor that directly impacts the nerve that assists in hearing. Medical professionals refer to this as the "8th Cranial Nerve". This is considered to be a slow growing brain tumor that is typically identified in the region of the brain that is referred to as the cerebellum as well as the area that is referred to as the pons.

The pons are located in the area of the brain that is referred to as the posterior fossa. When it comes to statistical data, it has been established that this type accounts for approximately 9% of all that are diagnosed. If an individual has this type of brain tumor, they are likely to experience symptoms such as a loss of hearing, dizziness, paralysis in the face area, and even loss of sensation or feeling in the face.

CNS Lymphoma

Individuals that have immune systems that are in a state of malfunction may develop a CNS lymphoma brain tumor. However, individuals that have properly function immune systems have been found to suffer from these types of tumors as well. Typically, these tumors will invade the cerebral hemispheres.

If an individual is suffering from this type of brain tumor, they are likely to experience symptoms such as memory loss, weakness that occurs on at least one side of the body, become easily confused, fatigue, and even seizures. Surgery to remove the tumor, radiation therapy, and even chemotherapy are considered to be appropriate treatments for those suffering from these types of abnormal growths.

Glioblastoma Multiforme

When it comes to difficult tumors, the glioblastoma multiforme or GBM is considered to be the one. This type of brain tumor is also considered to be one of the most dangerous in that it has such a high level of malignancy. Statistically, this particular brain tumor is considered to be the most common among adults that are considered to be middle-aged.

This tumor accounts for 30% of all cases. There are tumors that are considered to be a mix of many different cells. When researching this particular tumor, medical professionals have established that it has the absolute highest level of mixture. It is referred to as being "Heterogeneous" for this reason.

Conclusion

If you have been diagnosed with a brain tumor, it is important to learn as much as you possibly can about it. Here, you have been introduced to the most common types of brain tumors. There are many, many more types.

You should focus on the cause of the tumor, how quickly it spreads, the area of the brain that it affects, the symptoms that you may experience, the treatment for the tumor as well as the prognosis. If you have any questions, be certain to direct them to a medical professional.

brain tumor treatments

Brain Tumor Symptoms(brain tumor treatments)

brain tumor treatments

My father recently was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and he exhibited some of normal Brain Tumor Symptoms. However he did not have all the typical symptoms of a brain tumor, this is quite common for someone to only exhibit a selection of the normal brain tumor symptoms.

So what are the brain tumor symptoms you should look out for?

Brain Tumor Symptoms are very much related to where in the brain the tumor is located.

This is a short summary of what symptoms are related to which part of the brain.

Frontal lobe - Tumors in the Frontal lobe can cause the following: changes in personality or intellect, unco-ordination especially in walking, some weakness usually in one side of the body, some speech difficulties.

Parietal lobe - Tumors in the Parietal lobe can cause the following: difficulty in understanding words reading and writing, problems with movements especially co-ordination of movements, disorientation
numbers and calculations, weakness on one side of the body.

Occipital lobe - Tumors in the Occipital lobe can cause the following: vision impairment especially on one side.

Temporal lobe - Tumors in the Temporal lobe can cause the following: Fits, strange feelings like fear or familiarity like dé jà vu, unusual smells, blackouts, difficulties with speech, memory problems.

Cerebellum - Tumors in the Cerebellum can cause the following: Co-ordination affecting walking and speech, unsteadiness, involuntary movement of the eyes - flickering, vomiting and nausea, neck stiffness.

Brain stem - Tumors in the Brain Stem can cause the following: Unsteadiness usually un-coordinated walking, Facial weakness can be one-sided smile or eyelid that droops, vision issues usually double vision, speaking and swallowing difficulties.

As you can see the different tumors exhibit different symptoms.
You need to look out for any brain tumor symptoms and if there appears to be a problem get it check by a qualified medical person immediately.

brain tumor treatments

Four Emerging Breakthroughs In Solving Brain Tumors(brain tumor treatments)

brain tumor treatments

Despite significant advances in cancer research and treatment, one form of cancer - brain tumors - remain particularly feared, and for good reason. Because of their location, brain tumors can severely impact an individual's personality, memories and basic motor skills, robbing the patient of their very being. The impact on family and friends is felt greatly, as their loved one may be "lost" to them even earlier than feared. While there are more than 120 types of brain tumors, for the most common and serious adult tumors, Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the chances of living 5 years is less than 3%. Most patients will live no more than a year or two despite aggressive therapy.

However, few maladies manage to both simultaneously confound researchers in their mystery, yet hold such promise for the cure and management as prominently as brain tumors. There is strong belief that some significant breakthroughs in brain tumor treatment may only be 4-6 years away. Complementing traditional chemotherapeutic and surgical approaches, four emerging breakthroughs are discussed here which are rapidly transforming the treatment of brain tumors and related conditions.

Gene Therapy

Gene therapy approaches involve the insertion of genes into growing brain tumors, rendering them more sensitive to some chemotherapeutic agents that are relatively non-toxic to the rest of the body. Some promising experiments have demonstrated that with insertion of genes into animal brain tumor cells and administration of chemotherapy, complete destruction of the tumor may be possible without spread of the tumor. Other approaches in gene therapy include substitution of abnormal genes for normal genes, the repair of abnormal genes via selective reverse mutation, and gene regulation (i.e., altering the instructions within a gene to "turn on or off").

Vaccines

One area showing substantial promise in brain tumor treatment is based on an immunotherapeutic approach; that is, using a patient's immune system as an instrument for cancer therapy. This approach is premised on a body's immune response toward cells bearing tumor markers or antigens. One major focus area has been "active immunotherapy", described as the administration of the tumor antigenic material to help "vaccinate" a patient against their own tumor. Other vaccine approaches, including Dendritic cell-based vaccines, Cytokine immunogene therapy, Bacterial and viral tumor vaccines, and GBM-specific molecular pathway vaccines are also being considered. The vaccine approach holds challenges that need to be evaluated against other treatment options that may require crucial patient choices, but they are continuing to emerge as an area of significant promise.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery/Radiotherapy

There is growing usage of stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy among neurosurgeons. The tools, used for the non-invasive treatment of tumors and other brain, head, spine and neck conditions, use sophisticated mechanical systems and image-guided technology to treat tumors, using high, targeted doses of radiation (in a single session) to attack the tumor and minimizing contact with healthy tissue. The image guidance systems direct the radiation to the tumor; some systems shape the radiation beam to map to the exact shape of the tumor, and software can help direct the ideal access points to the tumor.

Dual Agent Drug Therapies

Some of the field's leading researchers have concluded that traditional treatment for many brain tumors has started with a faulty premise; namely, that interventions for brain tumors were simply a palliative effort designed to decrease patient discomfort and increase stabilization. The conclusion is that while these therapies have shown some success on their own, when multiple therapeutic agents are combined, (an approach more commonly used with cancers not as fatal) an increasing number of brain tumor patients are seeing increases in survival. Also, newer drugs are showing the ability to block the growth of tumors by attempting to interfere with their proteins that control tumor growth. And other, specialized treatment regimens are being formulated for patients whose tumors are shown to grow at an accelerated rate compared with typical tumors.

These are but four of the emerging approaches where we may continue to see major breakthroughs in treatment or management of brain tumors. The hope in all these courses is that ultimately, brain tumors may in some cases be curable or at least achieve status as a manageable disease, as with many other serious and chronic conditions such as diabetes.

brain tumor treatments