I am Lenora and I am going to be telling you a little bit about brain tumors.
Brain tumors can be devastating, causing a loss of speech, dizziness, nausea, or disorientation. One kind of brain tumor, called a glioblastoma kills most people who get it. There over 120 kinds of brain tumors and not all of them are as devastating. In 2007, Idaho was ranked 42 out of 50 for highest incidence rates of brain and nervous system tumors. This is a rate of 7.5 per 100,000. Idaho’s death rate was ranked 44 out of 50 in 2007. No causes for brain tumors are known, but several risk factors have been identified. Radiation, age, and genetics are several risk factors. Much debate and research is over whether cellphones contribute to brain tumors but research has not shown that it has.
Tumors are caused by a whole lot of dysfunctional cells. These dysfunctional cells start out as normal cells that have decided to replicate much more than normal. This is caused by a genetic alteration in the cell. These cells continue to look normal and function normally, but are a much higher concentration of cells. These cells may or may not turn into cancer. If they do digress toward cancer, cells loose their ability to function normally. For example, a neuron will not longer be able to deliver pulses to other neurons. As cell dysplasia progresses to severe dysplasia, this may be called “carcinoma in situ”. If the cancer is caught in this stage, it mostly likely will be curable. However, if not caught in this stage, cells begin to invade surrounding tissues.
Most people with a brain tumor undergo surgery. This is because of several reasons: the tumor is usually identified after the brain begins to malfunction. For example, a person may begin to suddenly have a new onset of seizures, or may be dizzy. Surgery may minimize these symptoms. The other reason surgery is done is in order to obtain a biopsy of the tumor for diagnosis.After surgery, an Oncologist will consult. Depending on the type of tumor and grade of tumor will determine the recommended treatment. The most aggressive tumors will be treated with both radiation, chemotherapy and medications that inhibit tumor growth. One type of radiation is called steriotactic surgery, which is a number of radiation beams that center on the tumor. Less viable tissue is damaged because there is less concentration of radiation through viable brain matter. The length and duration of treatments vary.
Therugae and anatomy of every person’s brain are slightly different. Some tumors are so deep inside of the brain that they cannot be removed, while other tumors are is risky areas. When surgery is done, sometimes the tumor may be close to the area of the brain that controls speech, or movement. The surgeon may want the patient to be awake during part of the procedure so they can test how much damage would be done if particular areas of the brain are removed. Here is a video of a patient in an awake surgery.
Is are many studies being done on brain tumor treatments, let alone cancer. About 170 clinical trials that are being done now are on Temozolomide, an alkalating agent, which is an additional treatment for glioblastomas. The National Cancer Institute has a list of clinical trials that are occuring, if you want to know more.
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