5 things you must know about brain tumors

What is Brain Tumor?

A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of muscle within the brain that develops within or around the brain. A patient with a tumor in his brain may face symptoms like speech and hearing difficulty, frequent headaches that get more and more severe with time, nausea, balance issues, giddiness, behavior change, and so on. If a person starts facing symptoms of a brain tumor, they are advised to visit the best oncologist in Noida, Dr. Vikas Goswami, to get their checkup done at the earliest.

What are the 5 things you must know about Brain Tumors?

1. Brain Tumors can affect people of any age.

People often believe that brain tumors can affect only people of older age. But this is not true. Brain tumors can be developed in people of any age – from older adults in their 70s or 80s to newborn babies. A brain tumor is among the most common cancers in children aged 0 to 14 years. The diagnosis and treatment in children are usually more complicated than the treatment for tumors in adults.

2. Not all brain tumors can become brain cancers.

Brain tumors are of two types malignant and benign. A brain tumor can be either cancerous or noncancerous. Malignant brain tumors are cancer-causing and can develop into brain cancer, but these are very rare, and almost only one-third of all brain cancers are found to be malignant or cancer-causing. Benign brain tumors are the ones that do not become cancer and are comparatively much more common. The treatment procedure for malignant and benign tumors differs, and a proper diagnosis is made before the start of the treatment to determine whether the tumor is malignant or benign.

3. Brain cancer that starts developing in the brain is rare.

Based on the origin in the body from where the tumor starts forming, the brain tumor is divided into two parts: Primary and Secondary Brain tumors. Primary Brain cancers are the ones that start developing in the brain itself. In contrast, secondary brain cancer originates from other parts of the body, commonly lungs, breasts, kidneys, and so on, and starts growing from there to reach the brain. Primary brain tumors are sporadic, and the ones that grow to become cancers are even rarer.

4. How is the treatment usually done?

To ensure an accurate and precise diagnosis of your tumor, get it done by Dr. Vikas Goswami, who is the best oncologist in Noida. The treatment first involves thoroughly examining the tumor to know its grade, size, malignant or benign nature, etc. The treatment procedure generally depends on these factors and is different depending on the stage, size, nature, and severity. What is the grade of the brain tumor? Brain tumors are categorized into four steps depending on their appearance, growing time, and tendency to spread to nearby tissues.

• Grade 1 brain tumors look quite normal and have a slow growth rate.
• Grade 2 brain tumors look a little less normal and have a slow growth rate. These brain tumors can spread into nearby tissues and hence can come back even after being treated once.
• Grade 3 brain tumors do not look normal at all and grow quickly with a high tendency of spreading into neighboring tissues.
• Grade 4 brain tumors are the most abnormal and actively growing and spreading tumors. These are the most severe ones.

After diagnosis, treatment of the brain tumor is done which usually involves a mix of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.

Surgery involves procedures like opening the skull and removal of the tumor. Radiation therapy is done through x-ray beams that can shrink the size of tumors or even destroy it. Chemotherapy is basically the use of medicines to control or prevent the growth of cancer cells.

After the removal of the tumor, processes for rehabilitation are done to help you recover from cancer and the surgeries so that you can regain your muscle strength, speaking skills, etc.

5. How is early diagnosis helpful in treatment?

Brain tumors can grow larger and more severe with time. This increases the risks and makes the treatment more complicated. If the tumor is diagnosed and the treatment is started early, it gets easier to destroy the tumor and stop it from spreading to other parts and causing severe damage.

Moreover, the recovery post-surgery is also quicker in such cases. Hence, it is recommended to visit Dr. Vikas Goswami, the best oncologist in Noida, as soon as you start noticing any symptoms that may indicate that a tumor is present in your brain.

Cheryl Wheeler