Posts Tagged ‘ brain tumours ’

5 Things You Must Know About Brain Tumours

Tuesday, June 7th, 2022

There has been an increase in the incidence of brain tumours in India over the years. About 50,000 new cases are reported each year, out of which 20% occur in children. There are over 120 different types of brain and central nervous system tumours all showing different symptoms and requiring different treatment options. This #WorldBrainTumourDay let us understand and spread awareness about some important things about Brain tumours:

1. What is a Brain Tumour?

A brain tumour is a growth or mass of cells that has grown abnormally in or around your brain. The spinal tumours and brain tumours together are called central nervous system (CNS) tumours. Some tumours grow quickly, while others take their time to develop. Brain tumours, whether malignant or not, can have an influence on your health and brain function if they grow large enough to push on surrounding nerves, blood vessels, and tissue.

There are two general groups of brain tumours:

  • Primary brain tumours start in the brain and tend to stay there.
  • Secondary brain tumours are more common and start somewhere else in your body and travel to the brain. Lung, breast, colon and kidney, cancers are among the most common cancers that spread to your brain.

Grades of Brain Tumours

Tumours are graded by how normal or abnormal the cells look. The grading also gives you an idea of how fast the tumour may grow and spread and helps oncologists determine your treatment plan. The grades of tumours include:

  • Grade 1.
    These cells look nearly normal and grow slowly. Long-term survival is likely.
  • Grade 2.
    These cells look slightly abnormal and grow slowly. The tumour may spread to nearby tissue and can come back, maybe at a more life-threatening grade.
  • Grade 3.
    These cells look abnormal and are actively growing into nearby brain tissue. These tumours tend to come back.
  • Grade 4.
    These cells look most abnormal and grow and spread quickly.

2. Malignant and benign brain tumors

Your doctor will conduct a thorough examination on your brain tumour to determine if it’s malignant or benign. This will help determine an appropriate treatment strategy. Some brain tumours are noncancerous (benign), while some brain tumours are cancerous (malignant). The term “malignant” refers to a tumour that is made up of cancer cells. These cells have the ability to infiltrate neighbouring tissues. Some cancer cells have the ability to travel via the circulation and lymph nodes. They can then spread to other organs and tissues in the body. The majority of dangerous tumours grow quickly, but the majority of benign tumours do not. There are, however, cases of both slow-growing malignant tumours and fast-growing noncancerous tumours. A benign tumour can grow to be fairly large, but it will not migrate to other parts of your body or invade neighbouring tissue.

3. Brain tumours in children 

Paediatric brain tumours are abnormal cell masses or growths that develop in a child’s brain or nearby tissue and structures. The type of tumour, its location within the brain, whether it has spread, and your child’s age and overall health all influence treatment and prognosis. If your child is showing any signs of a brain tumour, you must get it investigated. Treatment for brain tumours in children is typically quite different from treatment for adult brain tumours, so it’s very important to enlist the expertise and experience of paediatric oncology specialists.

4. How early detection helps?

The ability to detect a brain tumour earlier, when it is smaller, reduces the impact of surgery and treatment, improving the prognosis for all patients. Some early tumours may have signs and symptoms that can be noticed, but this is not always the case. Do not ignore any unusual signs of symptoms such as persistent headaches, seizures, balance problems or vision changes.

5. Treatment options available 

Your brain tumour treatment depends on the type of brain tumour you have, as well as its size and location. The standard treatment for brain tumour includes surgery, radiation therapy, and/or chemotherapy. Generally, radiation and chemotherapy treatments are used as secondary treatments for tumours. However, in rare cases, radiation and chemotherapy may be used without surgery if the tumour is inoperable.

Do you know someone suffering from this condition? Meet our dedicated team of neurosurgeons, medical oncologists, paediatric oncologists and radiation oncologist specialised in Neurooncolgy at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. Our Centre for Neurosciences is best equipped to treat brain tumours with great surgical expertise and advanced technologies. Our team also uses the latest operative advances with navigation, awake surgery techniques, neurophysiology monitoring with MEP and SSEP, radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy.

The Department of Neurosciences is headed by Dr. Abhaya Kumar who has great expertise in treating Brain Tumours and conducting minimally invasive spine surgeries. He has successfully preformed over 2000 brain tumour surgeries in the past. He is one of the few neurosurgeons who is skilled in both brain and spine surgery. His success rate in treating brain tumours is 90%, with residual tumour in only 10% of patients. This is in line with international standards. He has also performed over 300 Awake Neurosurgery procedures. For further assistance on brain tumour care, please visit our below website link: https://www.kokilabenhospital.com/departments/centresofexcellence/centrefor_neurosciences/braintumor.html

Brain tumour: Myths & Facts

Tuesday, October 27th, 2020

A brain tumour is an abnormal growth of tissue in the brain or central spine that can disrupt proper brain function. There are two main types of tumours namely, malignant and benign(non-malignant) tumours. Benign brain tumours are non-cancerous, while malignant primary brain tumours are cancerous, globally less than one-third of brain tumours are cancerous. This disease can occur at any age. The incidence of this neurological disorder in India ranges from 5 to 10 per 100,000 population with an increasing trend. Twenty percent of these cases are seen in children. Increasing the awareness, busting the many myths, early diagnosis and timely treatment is the right way to fight brain tumour.

Symptoms of Brain tumour
The following is a list of common symptoms which, alone or combined, can be caused by a brain tumour (malignant or non-malignant):

  • Headaches-early morning headache
  • Morning nausea and vomiting
  • Behavioural changes
  • Cognitive changes
  • Dizziness or unsteadiness
  • Speech disturbances
  • Double or blurred vision
  • Hearing impairment
  • Seizures
  • Weakness or Paralysis

Myths and facts of Brain tumour
Brain tumour is one of the most challenging and complex cancers and needs a multidisciplinary approach for treatment and recovery. Myths and misconceptions about brain tumour, its risk factors, how it spreads, and treatment options are widespread. Let us break down some of the most common myths and misconceptions about brain tumours:

  • Myth 1:  All brain tumours are cancerous.
    Fact: Only one-third of brain tumours are cancerous. Most of the non-cancerous brain tumours can be treated completely.
  • Myth 2: Brain tumour always originates in the brain.
    Fact: A brain tumour can originate in the brain and can also be a result of metastasis of cancer from other parts of the body like kidney, breast, lungs, intestine etc. The former is called primary tumours whereas the second type of brain tumour is called the secondary tumour which is quite frequent than the first one.
  • Myth 3: Brain cancer doesn’t affect young people.
    Fact: Brain tumours can occur at any age. Newborns have also been found to have a brain tumour. Brain tumour is the second most common cancer among children in our country.
  • Myth 4: Brain tumour runs in families.
    Fact: There is no evidence to suggest that people who have family members with brain tumors are more likely to get brain tumour.
  • Myth 5: Using Mobile phones causes brain tumour.
    Fact: There is no research evidence to suggest that mobile phone or any other type of radiation causes brain tumour but long exposures to radiation can have severe negative effects on the overall health and hence, should not be taken lightly.
  • Myth 6: Brain Cancer is a very common condition.
    Fact: Overall, the chance that a person will develop a malignant tumor of the brain in his or her lifetime is less than 1%.
  • Myth 7: Lifestyle modification can prevent Brain Tumors.
    Fact: An individual’s lifestyle does not lead to brain tumours and hence lifestyle modifications cannot prevent brain tumours. However, making healthy lifestyle choices help benefit your overall health.  Daily exercise, a balanced diet that is high in fibre, staying away from chewing tobacco, smoking and alcohol is good for health.
  • Myth 8: All brain tumour patients have the same signs and symptoms.
    Fact: Every person diagnosed with a brain tumour will have different symptoms depending on the size, site and grade of tumour. While some people do not develop symptoms other may have symptoms that worsen over time eventually leading to a diagnosis.
  • Myth 9: Treatment for a brain tumour is standard and accessible to anyone affected.
    Fact: Treatment of Brain tumours depends on the site, size and type of tumor. It includes Surgery, Radiation and Chemotherapy. These are available only in Tertiary centers.
  • Myth 10: Frequent headaches and blurred vision indicate brain tumour.
    Fact: Not all patients with headaches and blurred vision have brain tumour. There are hundreds of causes of headaches which needs proper investigation.

At Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital we have a dedicated team of neurosurgeons, medical oncologists, paediatric oncologists and radiation oncologist specialised in Neurooncolgy to diagnose and treat brain tumours. Our Centre for Neurosciences is equipped with the latest in world class technology that assists the doctors to achieve maximal safe resection of all tumours. Our highly experienced team of specialists performs over 1373 brain tumour surgeries successfully . The team uses the latest operative advances with navigation, awake surgery techniques, neurophysiology monitoring with MEP and SSEP. Please find below our website link for further details: https://www.kokilabenhospital.com/departments/centresofexcellence/centrefor_neurosciences/braintumor.html

This blog is written by Dr. Abhaya Kumar, Head, Neurosurgery and Consultant, Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. For more information about Dr. Kumar please click here