Brain cancer: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, stages and prevention of brain tumors

A malignant brain tumor, often called brain cancer, is a neoplasm of modified cells that is characterized by relatively rapid growth and the ability to grow into neighboring tissues and other organs. This is an extremely dangerous pathology, since at an early stage, when it is quite easy to cope with, it is discovered only as a result of special studies. The disease can develop in a person of any age and gender; even cases of congenital neoplasms have been reported. As the tumor grows, it takes up more and more space in the skull, which leads to compression of other tissues and a gradual increase in intracranial pressure. Therefore, even a benign cell formation over time acquires a malignant course and can lead to death.

Kinds

Based on the method of tumor formation, oncologists distinguish between brain cancer:

primary – formed directly from cells belonging to the organ;
secondary, or metastatic - occurs when metastases from other organs of the body penetrate into the skull.

Primary neoplasms occur 3-4 times less frequently than secondary ones and account for approximately 1.5% of all cases of cancer. The overall incidence of cerebral tumors is 5-6%, and the risk of their development increases with age. In children, this disease is extremely rare - statistics record no more than 2.4 cases per 100 thousand population under the age of 18 years.

Depending on what tissue became the source for the neoplasm, the following types are distinguished.

Astrocytomas (gangliomas), which develop directly in brain cells and account for up to 80% of all clinical cases.
Meningiomas, the source tissue for which is the membranes of the brain, and their cells rarely acquire malignant characteristics, although the growth of tumors in any case negatively affects the functioning of the brain.
Neuromas that grow from the myelin sheath of nerve fibers inside the skull.
Pituitary adenomas form in the tissue of the pituitary gland and exhibit malignant features in rare cases.

What kind of headache is it like with a brain tumor?

Pathological neoplasm cells, growing inside the skull, compress the walls of blood vessels, deform and compress the meninges. This leads to increased intracranial pressure, which causes severe headaches. For primary tumors of brain tissue, cephalgia is often the only sign of the development of pathology. It is necessary to undergo examination if:

the head begins to hurt during sleep or in the morning, from the moment you wake up;
the pain intensifies when you lie down, as well as when coughing and sneezing, during physical activity;
pain sensations are bursting, pulsating or squeezing in nature;
pain is accompanied by double vision, confusion, irritability to the point of aggression, dizziness;
seizures similar to epileptic ones appear;
From time to time, causeless nausea occurs, after painful bouts of vomiting, some relief is felt.

Attacks of cephalalgia intensify as the tumor grows. If at first they can be stopped by taking corticosteroids and diuretics, then over time the effectiveness of these drugs weakens.

Symptoms

Signs of brain cancer are divided into general cerebral, i.e. manifested in all types of disease without exception, and focal ones, from the totality of which one can form a primary idea of the localization of the neoplasm.

Common symptoms of a brain tumor that appear as a result of increased intracranial pressure include:

the appearance of constant headaches, which intensify with sudden movements of the head and are not relieved by medications;
sudden dizziness, nausea and vomiting, fainting;
feeling of constant fatigue, drowsiness;
the appearance of problems with visual perception – blurred pictures, “sights”, hallucinations;
violation of spatial orientation and coordination.

In turn, focal symptoms of brain cancer depend on the location of the tumor and allow localization of the pathology:

in the forehead area - due to weakening of one half of the body, loss of smell, change in the patient’s character;
in the temple area - for convulsions, speech disorders, developing forgetfulness;
in the crown area - for speech impairment, loss of sensitivity of half the body;
in the occipital lobe - due to loss of vision in one of the eyes;
in the cerebellum - by vibration of the eyeball, lack of coordination of movements, spasm of the neck muscles;
in the brain stem - due to unsteadiness of gait, disturbances in swallowing and difficulty speaking, weakness of the facial muscles.

In order not to miss the onset of the disease, if even one or two of the first signs of brain cancer appear, you must consult a neurologist and undergo an examination.

Symptoms of brain tumors

Anesthesiologist-resuscitator, Department of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation No. 2 Kazanovich E.S.

General cerebral symptoms are associated with: increased intracranial pressure and compression of the main structures of the brain. These manifestations are usually nonspecific and do not depend on the area in which the tumor is located. They may also occur with other diseases.

The most common cause of brain tumors is headache. A characteristic symptom of brain tumors is that the headache in patients is constant and intense. The reason is increased intracranial pressure. A distinctive feature of headaches with brain tumors is that it is not relieved by analgesics, and its intensity can be reduced by reducing intracranial pressure.

Another characteristic symptom of brain tumors is vomiting. The cause of vomiting in this case is an increase in intracranial pressure. Such vomiting does not bring relief to the patient, as happens with poisoning, for example. With brain tumors, constant vomiting and nausea may occur, which interferes with nutrition and fluid intake.

Another symptom of brain tumors is dizziness and loss of balance (coordination of movement), unsteadiness of gait. In addition to dizziness, horizontal nystagmus (twitching of the eyeballs to the side), as well as a sensation of turning or moving in one direction or another, may be noted.

Sensory impairment

The patient ceases to feel the effects of heat and sensitivity to touch. In addition, the sense of the position of one’s own body in space may be impaired.

Movement disorders

Paralysis and paresis are a complete or partial impairment of the motor activity of one or another limb(s) or the entire half of the body, respectively.

Convulsive syndrome

Seizures are a fairly common symptom of brain tumors. The cause of epileptic seizures due to tumors is that they compress certain areas of the brain. The risk of seizures is especially high in younger patients compared to older people. Convulsive muscle contractions can be either local or generalized when muscle groups are involved. Convulsions can be rapid - the so-called. clonic convulsions, and slow, tonic, which are characterized by prolonged and slow muscle contraction. There are often attacks with loss of consciousness.

Hearing and speech impairment

When the tumor affects the auditory nerve, hearing is impaired. If the tumor affects the area of the cerebral cortex responsible for speech recognition, the patient will not be able to understand what is being said to him.

Visual impairment

The patient's vision may be impaired, and the ability to recognize objects and text may be lost, complete or partial loss of vision may occur, and various impairments may occur, ranging from the inability to recognize “visual” signals to the inability to understand written speech or recognize moving objects.

Impaired oral and written speech

There may be complete or partial loss of speech. This process usually progresses slowly and its manifestations become more pronounced as the tumor grows. Typically, changes in the patient's handwriting are first noted, and speech becomes slurred. Then speech impairments become more pronounced and it is simply impossible to understand.

Autonomic disorders

They manifest themselves in the form of weakness and fatigue. The patient complains of dizziness, fatigue, fluctuations in pulse and blood pressure. The cause of such disorders is disturbances in the autonomic regulation of vascular tone.

Hormonal disorders

Typically, hormonal disorders are associated with tumor damage to the pituitary gland or hypothalamus. Hormonal disorders can manifest as enlarged feet, hands, changes in facial features (enlarged nose, ears, lips)

Loss of coordination is a characteristic sign of cerebellar damage.

Psychomotor disorders

Impaired memory and attention may occur. Irritability is noted, the patient becomes distracted, inadequate, disoriented.

Dear patients! If you experience a headache (for the first time or of an unusual nature), nausea, vomiting, dizziness, hearing or vision impairment, spatial disorientation, weakness and numbness in the limbs, you need to contact a neurologist for advice on a CT or MRI of the brain.

Radiation diagnostics

Computed tomography (CT).

The method is based on the measurement and computer processing of the difference in the absorption of X-ray radiation by tissues of different densities. In a CT examination of the head, these are the integumentary tissues, skull bones, white and gray matter of the brain, blood vessels, and cerebrospinal fluid.

Particularly informative images can be obtained using so-called spiral computed tomography.

To obtain additional information (for tumors, cerebral vascular diseases, etc.), CT scans use radiocontrast agents administered intravenously before the study. Using CT, you can obtain comprehensive information about vascular diseases, traumatic injuries, tumors, abscesses, malformations and many other diseases of the brain and spinal cord. These data may be indispensable when it comes to clarifying the topographic relationships of the pathological focus, brain and skull, planning surgical access, and reconstructive operations on the skull.

CT is the most commonly used objective diagnostic method in neurosurgery.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

The method is based on recording electromagnetic radiation. For better visualization of pathological formations of the brain and spinal cord, MRI is performed before and after intravenous administration of a paramagnetic drug (usually gadolinium), which accumulates in the area of the damaged blood-brain barrier. Magnetic resonance imaging, when using special research programs, allows you to obtain an image of the vessels supplying the brain and evaluate in real time the movement of cerebrospinal fluid through the intracranial spaces.

It should be noted that an important advantage of MRI is the absence of radiation exposure. However, there are certain limitations to the use of this method: it cannot be used in patients with implanted pacemakers and other electronic devices, including those used in functional neurosurgery, metal magnetic structures and foreign bodies.

Positron emission tomography (PET)

The positron emission tomography method involves the use of short-lived radioactive isotopes that mark substances introduced into the body (glucose) involved in the metabolic processes of the brain. The positron emission tomography method is of particular importance for assessing metabolism in a tumor, which makes it possible to indirectly judge its malignancy, and for differential diagnosis between a tumor and non-tumor processes.

Cerebral angiography (CA is performed in a hospital after a preliminary examination (CT, MRI)) is a study of brain vessels, in which a contrast agent is injected directly into the vessel being examined. The study is carried out under local anesthesia (if necessary, in particular in children, under general anesthesia). Modern methods of computer image processing make it possible to “remove” images of bone structures and trace the movement of the contrast agent through the vessels in a continuous mode, in any projection.

Take care of yourself and be healthy!

Causes and risk factors

As medical practice shows, the main cause of brain cancer is metastasis from other organs affected by the disease. For primary neoplasms, risk factors have been identified that increase the incidence of pathology:

old age – 50 years and above;
having a close relative with a brain tumor;
negative impact of radioactive exposure;
genetic pathologies;
prolonged contact with certain chemicals;
brain injury or concussion.

Having one or more of these symptoms does not mean that you will definitely get sick. However, in this case it is necessary to be especially careful and undergo examination if warning symptoms appear.

Causes of brain cancer

The process of tumor formation in the human brain is still poorly understood. There are several main reasons that can lead to the growth of pathological cells in tissues, causing brain cancer:

Genetic predisposition;
Radiation exposure;
Consequence of working in an industry harmful to human health (nuclear industry, formaldehyde, vinyl chloride, acrylonitrile);
Consequences of hormonal therapy;
Weak immunity.

Brain cancer is not an infectious disease, so it is impossible to get infected from another person. It is external adverse influences that place the potential victim at risk. Men are most at risk of developing cancer. However, meningiomas are twice as common in women.

Studies have shown that people of color are much less likely to suffer from brain cancer. This is associated with stronger immunity. There is also an age connection - most often brain tumors are found in elderly people over 70 years of age. A large percentage of children aged 8 years are at risk of developing leukemia.

There is an opinion that mobile phones may also be one of the causes of the formation of cancerous tumors in the brain. However, studies have not proven this fact. The same goes for head injuries. Many people constantly live at risk, however, they do not develop tumors. Conversely, people suffer from brain cancer who have almost never been exposed to any of the above unfavorable factors.

Stages

Cancer specialists distinguish four main stages characteristic of brain cancer.

A small number of cells are affected, the size of the neoplasm is small, but it is already beginning to have an effect, expressed by a feeling of weakness, drowsiness, and periodic headaches without clear localization. If you do not neglect these symptoms of early stage brain cancer and undergo examination, then the detected tumor is cured in almost one hundred percent of cases.
The tumor grows and spreads to neighboring tissues that are located next to it. Symptoms intensify, become more pronounced and noticeable. Some patients already at this stage develop convulsions and seizures similar to epileptic ones. The chances of successful surgical treatment remain, although not to the full extent.
The growth of the tumor accelerates, it grows into healthy tissue, and there is a threat of death. A characteristic sign of the third stage is nystagmus - constantly moving pupils. There is a high probability that the tumor will be recognized as inoperable, in which case the patient receives only symptomatic treatment.
The tumor affects all brain tissue located near it and rapidly increases in size. The patient's condition deteriorates sharply, possibly falling into a coma. At this stage, surgery to remove the pathological formation is impossible, and the prognosis is unfavorable. Therapy is aimed only at alleviating the patient's suffering.

In primary brain tumors, there are no metastases to other organs. A secondary disease most often develops due to the patient’s existing melanoma, kidney cancer, sarcoma, or colon tumor that metastasizes to the brain.

Associated symptoms

In a third of patients, bursting pain and a feeling of pressure on the eyeballs from the inside become the first symptoms that they pay attention to. As the disease progresses, these disturbances in well-being may be accompanied by other cerebral manifestations (dizziness, nystagmus), as well as focal symptoms.

For example, people with tumor lesions of the cerebellum experience unsteady gait and difficulty coordinating movements. In patients with tumors localized in the area of the speech center, speech is impaired. When the visual tuberosities are compressed, patients complain of double vision, loss of visual fields, distortion of the perception of surrounding objects, “primitive” visual hallucinations (photopsia), etc.

Glowing spots before the eyes (photopsia) is a symptom accompanying headaches that occurs when a tumor compresses the visual tuberosities

The presence of a lesion in the parietal lobe leads to a decrease in intelligence and disruption of thought processes, in the frontal lobe - to the development of depressive states, loss of the ability to plan and make decisions.

It should be added that all of the above manifestations, including specific signs characteristic of headaches with brain tumors, cannot serve as a basis for making a final diagnosis. After all, similar disturbances in well-being accompany various infectious processes and can appear with a carotid artery aneurysm and other non-oncological diseases.

However, if the patient notes:

Changing the nature of headaches;
Expanding, pulsating, worsening when bending or turning the head;
Night GB;
Hypertension resistant to drug therapy;
headache with focal neurological symptoms characteristic of damage to certain brain structures (for example, disturbances in motor function, vision, hearing, speech, memory, attention, intelligence, emotions, or the appearance of abnormal sensations, visual or auditory hallucinations);
headaches accompanied by general cerebral symptoms associated with increased intracranial pressure: repeated vomiting, dizziness, convulsions or weight loss,

then a series of diagnostic studies are prescribed. Based on the results obtained, the true cause of the ailment is determined and a treatment plan is drawn up. Doctors obtain the most complete and reliable information by scanning the brain using magnetic resonance imaging using modern high-field tomographs.

Tomograms obtained using MRI scans of the brain allow the doctor to accurately determine the nature of the problems

Diagnostics

As a rule, diagnostic examinations for brain oncology are carried out as follows. You come for a consultation with a neurologist, who listens to complaints, conducts an examination and prescribes instrumental studies.

CT scan of the head, which detects the presence of neoplasms already at the first stage.
MRI of the brain with contrast, which is performed for early detection and localization of cancer.
Angiography, which reveals abnormalities in the structure of the blood vessels of the brain.
Scintigraphy, or radioisotope contrast study, is effective for the early detection of tumors.
Lumbar puncture, through which a sample of tumor tissue is obtained for subsequent analysis.

The types of studies are selected by the doctor depending on the symptoms. The totality of the data obtained allows not only to identify a tumor, but also to accurately localize it, determine the size and stage of development of the disease, which is important for determining subsequent actions.

Treatment

Since the brain is an extremely specialized organ, treatment of tumors is the prerogative of a neurologist or neurosurgeon if it is decided that surgery is necessary. The choice of method depends on the location of the pathological formation and the stage of its development.

Surgical intervention allows you to completely get rid of the disease only in some cases, when the tumor is located in a place convenient for penetration and affects a minimum of tissue. More often, surgery is performed to reduce the severity of symptoms.
Chemotherapy can be administered not only to adults, but also to children; drugs are administered orally or by injection.
Radiation therapy is usually needed to remove any remaining tumor that cannot be removed during surgery.
Corticosteroids are prescribed to reduce tissue swelling and inflammation. They have no effect on malignant cells.
Symptomatic medications, which include painkillers, anticonvulsants and antidepressants, are prescribed to make the patient feel better and reduce symptoms.

Treatment and survival prognosis

Treatment of the disease in most cases requires surgery (consult your surgeon). If the tumor is benign, no treatment is required after surgery. This is the case with neuromas and most types of meningiomas.

If the tumor grows very slowly, a wait-and-see approach is chosen. The disease is observed without taking other measures. This approach is used if the patient is elderly or in a weakened condition (there is a high probability that the patient will not undergo surgery).

If the tumor is malignant, radiation therapy is performed after surgery. In some cases, the patient undergoes a shunt procedure to eliminate hydrocephalus (fluid removal).

Doctor's advice

Not every headache is a sign of a brain tumor. If you have complaints, you need to contact a neurologist, and not develop panic and fear due to thoughts of bad things. It happens that a person is so scared and believes in the possibility of cancer that he completely drops out of life and loses his job. It takes months and years to recover mental health. The culprit of the pain in such cases is cervical osteochondrosis, migraine or tension headache.

Victoria Druzhikina Neurologist, Therapist

Monitoring of patients with cancer has shown that the five-year survival rate for stage 2 is 30%; for stage 4, the rate drops sharply and is only 5%. Multiple metastases localized in the skull allow a person to live only a year.

It is impossible to definitively answer the question of how long people with a brain tumor live on average. Some for a year, others for 100 years. This depends on the type of neoplasm and on the patient’s attentive attitude to his health.

The information provided in the article indicates that the diagnosis of a “brain tumor” cannot be taken as a death sentence. With timely detection and treatment, meningiomas, pituitary adenomas and neuromas do not pose a threat to life.

On the other hand, even benign neoplasms can lead to death, since, as they grow, they compress vital brain structures. It is important to promptly diagnose and begin to treat the pathology. Therefore, at the first warning signs, immediately contact your doctor, who, if necessary, will refer you to another specialist.

Be healthy!

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This article has been verified by a current qualified physician, Victoria Druzhikina, and can be considered a reliable source of information for site users.

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Rehabilitation

To return the patient to a normal lifestyle after treatment, the doctor may prescribe rehabilitation procedures depending on the nature and extent of brain damage.

Physical therapy is necessary to restore motor coordination and muscle strength.
Classes with a speech therapist are useful for speech disorders.
Treatment by a psychologist or psychotherapist is required for patients with developed depression, memory and thinking disorders.
Taking anticonvulsant medications to prevent epileptic seizures.

After completing treatment, you must remember that brain tumors can recur, and you need to undergo regular preventive examinations.