UNSTANDING BRAIN TUMORS
A brain tumor is a mass of abnormal cells that is growing in or around the brain. It develops when abnormal cells multiply for unknown reasons. Benign and malignant are terms used to describe brain tumors. Benign brain tumors are usually slow growing and have distinct borders and a normal appearance under a microscope. Malignant tumors are considered brain cancer. They tend to invade healthy areas of the brain and may grow rapidly. A benign tumor may be considered malignant if it is located in a critical area of the brain or its size is life-threatening.What causes brain tumors?
Patients with certain genetic conditions (i.e., neurofibromatosis, von Hippel-Lindau disease, Li-Frameni syndrome, and retinoblastoma) also have an increased risk to develop tumors of the central nervous system. There have also been some reports of people in the same family developing brain tumors who do not have any of these genetic syndromes.
Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place. Sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or causes of brainĀ tumor.
There are over 120 different types of brain tumors, which make effective treatment complicated. They can be malignant or non-malignant (benign), and in either case, can be just as injurious or life threatening. At present, the standard treatments for brain tumors include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. These may be used either individually or in combination.
The usual treatment for such a tumor includes combinations of radiation and chemotherapy, but the precise treatment for Kennedy will be determined
After further tests and discussion among his physicians, doctors said.
What starts this process is a complicated chain of events at the molecular and biologic levels. Exactly what starts tumor cells to form and grow, we don’t know, but we do know what doesn’t cause tumors to grow. You don’t get a brain tumor by eating the wrong foods, disobeying your family, or doing bad things. Some cancers, such as lung cancer, can be brought on by behaviors. If you smoke for 40 years, you can get lung cancer. Nothing like this occurs in brain tumors. The cause of brain tumors is actively being.