Ever had a persistent headache that won’t go away? This kind of headache feels like a migraine, but it really isn’t. It isn’t even a tension headache that comes with a set of pressures that make you feel terrible at any given time of the day. No. This headache is different. This headache is the result of a brain tumour.
In India, a relatively well-known symptom of a brain tumour is a severe, persistent headache that worsens in the morning or if you are physically active.
Such a headache can be accompanied by nausea and vomiting - this is quite common and a significant concern that requires immediate medical attention, especially if the headache comes with neurological symptoms like vision changes, confusion or weakness.
But What Is A Brain Tumour?
If you are unfortunate enough to get one, a brain tumour is the growth of cells in the brain or close to it. Such tumours can occur in the brain tissue. Other locations include nerves, the pineal gland, the pituitary gland, and the membranes that shield the brain's surface.
For all intents and purposes, brain tumours can start in the brain. They’re known as primary brain tumours. In some cases, cancer spreads from the brain to other body parts. If that is the case, then these tumours are known as secondary brain tumours, also known as metastatic brain tumours.
There are quite a few different types of primary brain tumours. Not all of them are cancerous, though. Such brain tumours are known as noncancerous brain tumours or benign brain tumours.
Noncancerous brain tumours might grow over time, pressing on the brain tissue. The tumours that you need to worry about, the cancerous ones, are known as malignant brain tumours. Brain cancers might burgeon very quickly. Cancer cells are really evil and can invade and destroy brain tissue.
Brain tumours can vary in size from tiny to large. Certain brain tumours are found when they are tiny because they cause symptoms that come under your purview immediately. Other brain tumours take their time - and grow considerably before they’re discovered.
Certain parts of the brain are not as active as others - if a tumour begins in a part of the brain that is not so active, it won’t cause symptoms immediately. Before it gets detected, the tumour size could become quite large.
Just like there are many kinds of rumours, there are many types of brain tumours. The sort of brain tumour depends on the nature of the cells that form the tumour. If you carry out special lab tests on the tumour cells, you can get information about the cells. Doctors use this information to point a finger at the type of brain tumour.
Not all brain tumours are cancerous before you get your stress levels high. There are noncancerous tumours or benign tumours. However, certain kinds of brain tumours are cancerous.
Such types cause brain cancer or malignant brain tumours. Benign brain tumours are slow-growing brain tumours, while malignant ones are slightly faster-growing.
Gliomas and Related Brain Tumours
Gliomas refer to cell growths that resemble glial cells. These glial cells surround and support nerve cells in the brain tissue. Certain varieties of gliomas and related brain tumours are astrocytoma, glioblastoma, oligodendroglioma and ependymoma. The most common type of malignant brain tumour - glioblastoma.
Choroid Plexus Tumours
These tumours begin in cells, consisting of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, also called cerebrospinal fluid. Choroid plexus tumours are situated in fluid-filled cavities in the brain, also known as ventricles.
Such tumours might be benign or malignant. When it is malignant, it is called Choroid Plexus Carcinoma. And the worst part about this tumour? It is more common in children.
Embryonal Tumours
Such tumours originate in cells that are left over from fetal development. Also called embryonal cells, they stay in the brain post-birth. Such tumours are malignant and occur most often in babies and little children.
Medulloblastoma is the most common kind of embryonal tumour. It is found in the lower back part of the brain, also known as the cerebellum.
Germ Cell Tumours
Such tumours begin in reproductive cells, also known as germ cells, that become sperm and egg cells. Germ cells are usually found in the ovaries and testicles. However, they are also found in other body parts, including the brain.
When such tumours occur in the brain, they are found near the pineal or pituitary gland. Germ cell tumours are generally benign and are sadly more common in children.
Pineal Tumours
Such tumours begin in and around the brain's pineal gland, which is located in the brain's centre. It creates a hormone known as melatonin, which helps us sleep properly. Pineal tumours could either be benign or malignant. One kind of pineal tumour that is most common in children is known as Pineoblastoma.
Meningiomas
Such brain tumours begin in the membranes around the brain and spinal cord. Benign to start with, they can also be malignant. They are the most common type of benign brain tumour.
Nerve Tumours
Also known as growths that occur in and around nerves. The most well-known type in the head is the acoustic neuroma, also called the schwannoma. Benign in nature, this tumour is located on the main nerve which joins the inner ear and the brain.
Pituitary Tumours
Brain tumours might happen in and around the pituitary gland, a small gland located near the base of the brain. Most tumours that occur in and around the pituitary gland are benign. Pituitary tumours occur in the pituitary gland itself. Craniopharyngioma refers to a kind of brain tumour that appears near the pituitary gland.
Other Brain Tumours
There are several types of rare tumours that can occur in and around the brain. They can start in the blood vessels, muscles and connective tissue surrounding the brain, or in the bones of the skull.
Certain malignant brain tumours might begin from the germ-fighting immune system cells in the brain. This variety of brain cancer is known as primary central nervous system lymphoma.
The symptoms of a brain tumour depend on where it is located in your brain, and the size of the tumour, as well as how fast that tumour is growing - also known as the tumour grade.
Headache or pressure in the head, which is worse in the morning
Headaches that occur more often and are more severe
Headaches that might get mistaken for tension headaches or migraines
Nausea and vomiting
Eye problems like seeing double, blurry vision, or losing sight on the sides of the vision
Losing feeling or movement in one arm or leg
Balance issues
Problems with your speech
Feeling very exhausted
Confused in everyday matters
Memory issues
Having issues following easy commands
Personality or behavioural changes
Seizures, especially if they haven’t happened before
Hearing issues
Vertigo
Feeling hungry, eating a lot and gaining weight
Brain tumours that are not cancerous usually cause symptoms that develop really slowly. Noncancerous brain tumours are also known as benign brain tumours, which cause subtle symptoms which aren’t noticeable at first but get worse as time goes by.
If a brain tumour is cancerous, it can cause symptoms which can deteriorate quickly. Cancerous brain tumours are also known as brain cancers or malignant brain tumours. Such tumours cause symptoms that appear suddenly and can get worse in a matter of days or weeks.
Brain Tumour Headaches
Headaches remain the most common symptom of brain tumours, happening in around half of all people with brain tumours. These headaches occur if a growing brain tumour presses healthy cells around it.
A brain tumour could also cause swelling in the brain, increasing pressure in the head, and resulting in headaches.
Headache pain from brain tumours often worsens as you awake in the morning. However, don’t be fooled - such pain can occur anytime. For instance, people have headaches that wake them up from sleep.
Brain tumour headaches usually cause pain that surfaces when you’re coughing or straining.
Such headaches can feel like tension headaches, or even like a migraine. Sometimes, brain tumours in the back of the head cause headaches with neck pain. If the tumour is in the front of the head, the headache might feel like eye pain or sinus pain.
Brain Tumour Symptoms According to Location
The main section of the brain is also known as the cerebrum. Brain tumours in various parts of the cerebrum might result in different symptoms.
Brain Tumours in the Front of the Brain
The brain has something called a frontal lobe, which controls movement and thinking. Frontal lobe tumours might result in balance issues and trouble with walking. You might experience a personality change, like forgetfulness or lack of interest in daily activities. Your family might notice that you act differently if you have a brain tumour.
Brain Tumours in the Middle of the Brain
The parietal lobes occur in the upper middle part of the brain. They process information regarding touch, vision, taste, smell and hearing. Parietal lobe brain tumours can cause issues related to the senses, like vision and hearing problems.
Brain Tumours in the Back of the Brain
In the back of the brain, you have the occipital lobes, which control vision. Occipital lobe brain tumours can result in vision loss.
Brain Tumours in the Lower Part of the Brain
The temporal lobes are on the sides of the brain, processing memories and senses. Tumours here can result in memory issues. They might cause people to see, smell or taste something that isn’t there. Most of the time, this taste or smell is quite unusual or unpleasant.
In people suffering from primary brain tumours, the cause is not very clear. However, doctors might have identified certain factors that increase the risk.
Age
Brain tumours don’t give you advance notice before they happen, but most often they occur in older adults. Certain brain tumours primarily impact adults, with a few happening in children.
Race
Anyone can get affected by a brain tumour. However, some types of brain tumours occur more in people of certain races. For instance, gliomas happen more in white people. Meningiomas are more common in African Americans.
Exposure to Radiation
If you have been exposed to a strong kind of radiation, you have an increased risk of a brain tumour. This intense radiation is known as ionising radiation, strong enough to cause DNA changes in the body's cells.
These DNA changes can result in tumours and cancers. Instances of ionising radiation are radiation therapy used for cancer treatment. If the radiation you are exposed to is low-level radiation, it can’t cause cancer.
Low radiation levels include energy coming to us from cellphones and radio waves. Some people say cellphones cause brain tumours.
Inherited Syndromes That Boost the Risk of Brain Tumours
Certain DNA changes that increase the risk of brain tumours run in the genes. Examples are DNA changes that result in neurofibromatosis I and III, Lynch syndrome, Tuberous sclerosis, Von-Hippel-Lindau disease, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Gorlin syndrome, familial adenomatous polyposis and Cowden syndrome.
If you are unlucky enough to have a brain tumour, your doctor might put you through a litany of tests and procedures to try and ascertain whether that tumour is cancerous or not.
Neurological Exam
A neurological examination tests various parts of the brain to check their working. This exam might include checking your hearing, vision, coordination, balance, strength and reflexes.
If trouble crops up in one or more areas, this is a sign for your healthcare provider. A neurological exam does not detect a brain tumour, however, it assists your provider in figuring out which part of the brain might be having an issue.
Head CT scan
Also known as a computed tomography scan, this uses X-rays to take photos. The results for this test are widely available and come back rather quickly. CT may be the primary imaging test if you have headaches or other symptoms that can have different causes.
A CT scan can find out problems in and around the brain, and its results can tell your doctor what test to do next. If your CT scan shows a brain tumour, you might require a brain MRI.
Brain MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging, also known as MRI, uses a powerful magnet to create photos of the inside of the body. MRI scans are often used to detect brain tumours because they depict the brain more clearly than other imaging tests.
Sometimes, a dye might be injected into a vein in the arm before an MRI to make the pictures clearer. This makes it easier to see smaller tumours. Your doctor can distinguish between a brain tumour and healthy brain tissue.
In other cases, you might require a special type of MRI to create more detailed images. One instance is a functional MRI. This shows which areas of the brain control moving, speaking and other essential tasks. This helps your health care provider plan surgery as well as other treatments.
Yet another special MRI test is magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This test uses an MRI to judge the levels of certain chemicals in the tumour cells. Having too much or too little of such chemicals might be a good indicator of the kind of brain tumour that you have.
Yet another kind of special MRI is magnetic resonance perfusion. This test uses MRI to measure the amount of blood in various parts of the brain tumour. The section of the tumour that has more blood might be the most active part of the tumour.
Pet Scan of the Brain
A positron emission tomography or PET scan can locate a brain tumour. A PET scan depends on a radioactive tracer injected into a vein. The tracer travels through the blood, attaching itself to the brain tumour cells.
The tracer makes these tumour cells stand out on the pictures snapped by the PET machine. Cells which divide and multiply quickly take up more of the tracer.
A PET scan might be great for detecting brain tumours that grow quickly. Instances are glioblastomas and certain oligodendrogliomas. Brain tumours which are slow-growing may not be detected on a PET scan. Brain tumours, which are not cancerous, grow slowly, so PET scans are useless for benign brain tumours.
Collecting a Tissue Sample
A brain biopsy is a procedure implemented to remove a sample of brain tumour tissue to test in a lab. Sometimes, a surgeon gets the sample during surgery to get rid of the brain tumour.
If surgery can’t happen, a needle might be used to remove a sample. Removing a brain sample tumour tissue using a needle is done through stereotactic needle biopsy.
During this procedure, a tiny hole is drilled in the skull. A thin needle is then shoved through the hole, and used to take a tissue sample. Imaging tests like CT and MRI plan the needle's path. Medicine is used to numb this area, so you are somnolent and unaware that this is happening.
You may have a needle biopsy, not a surgery, if your doctor is worried that a surgery might hurt a vital part of the brain. A needle might be required to remove tissue from a tumour if the tumour is in a tough spot, which is hard to reach with surgery.
Testing Tissue Sample in the Lab
The biopsy sample is dispatched to a lab to test whether the cells are cancerous or non-cancerous. How such cells look under a microscope can tell your doctor how fast these cells are growing. Other tests tell you what DNA changes are present in the cells.
So, you have a brain tumour. What else can you do, apart from praying? Treatment for a brain tumour will depend on whether this tumour is cancerous or not. Treatment options depend on the tumour's size, grade, type, and location.
Options are surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, radiosurgery and targeted therapy. While weighing treatment options, your doctor will consider your health and preferences.
Treatment might not be required immediately. You may not require treatment if the tumour is small, non-cancerous and doesn’t cause symptoms. Small benign tumours don’t grow too much so they don’t cause issues.
You might have a brain MRI scan twice a year to check for tumour growth. If the tumour grows more than expected or you have symptoms, treatment might be required.
Surgery
Surgery for a brain tumour aims to get rid of all the tumour cells. The tumour can’t permanently be obliterated. When feasible, the surgeon tries to safely remove as much of the tumour as possible. Brain tumour removal surgery might be used to treat brain cancer as well as benign brain tumours.
Some brain tumours aren’t massive and can easily be separated from surrounding brain tissue. This means that the tumour will be obliterated. Other brain tumours can’t be separated from the tissue that surrounds them.
Sometimes, a tumour might be in a hotspot - an important part of the brain, making surgery risky. In such cases, the surgeon might remove as much of the tumour as is safe. Removing a part of the tumour is known as subtotal resection.
Getting Rid of the Tumour Might Help With Symptoms
There are several ways of doing a brain tumour removal surgery. What works for you depends on the situation. Examples of brain tumour surgery are:-
Removing a Section of the Skull to Reach the Brain Tumour
Brain surgery, which involves removing a part of the skull, is known as craniotomy. Most brain tumour operations are done this way. Craniotomy is used for treating cancerous and benign brain tumours.
Using a Long, Thin Tube to Reach the Brain Tumour
This is endoscopic brain surgery, which involves putting a long, thin tube into the brain called an endoscope. The tube has a number of lenses or a small camera that gives the surgeon an idea of what is going on inside. Endoscopic brain surgery is used to treat pituitary tumours, which grow just behind the nasal cavity.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy for brain tumours implements powerful energy beams to get rid of tumour cells. The energy might come from X-rays, protons and other sources. Radiation therapy for the tumour comes from a machine outside the body and is called external beam radiation.
Sometimes radiation could be placed in the body, called brachytherapy. Radiation therapy can be used for treating brain cancers and benign brain tumours.
In conclusion, if you have a brain tumour, you shouldn’t panic. Sometimes a tumour might be benign and non-cancerous. Speak to your doctor regarding your treatment options, and what can be done so your life is not at stake. A tumour is an alarming sign, no doubt. However, knowing whether the tumour is benign or malignant will dictate whether you will undergo cancer treatment or not. In any case, get the treatment you require, so you can live cancer-free.
What is a brain tumour?
A brain tumour is an abnormal growth of cells in the brain. Brain tumours can be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).
What are the different types of brain tumours?
Brain tumours are classified into two main types: primary and secondary (metastatic). Primary Brain tumours originate in the brain, while secondary brain tumours (metastatic) spread from other parts of the body.
What causes brain tumours?
The exact cause of brain tumours is often unknown. However, some risk factors can increase the likelihood of developing a brain tumour, including a family history of brain tumours, certain inherited genetic conditions (e.g., neurofibromatosis), exposure to radiation, and a weakened immune system.
What are the symptoms of a brain tumour?
Symptoms of a brain tumour can vary based on the tumour's size, type, and location. Common symptoms include headaches (especially in the morning), nausea and vomiting, vision problems, difficulty with balance or coordination, memory problems, speech issues, seizures, personality changes, and numbness or weakness in limbs.
How are brain tumours diagnosed?
Brain tumours are typically diagnosed through a combination of medical history, physical examination, and imaging tests such as an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or CT scan (computed tomography).
