How do brain tumors develop

A fraction of the new brain tumor cases diagnosed each year are caused by rare genetic conditions. Age is considered a risk factor as well, with older people being diagnosed at a much higher rate than younger people.

Research is ongoing into genetic and environmental factors that may contribute to the development of brain tumors. Our brains are made up of countless living cells and we have genes that manage, or control, normal cell growth, division and death.

As we get older, cell division mostly occurs to replace dying cells or to repair injuries. When this normal cell cycle is disrupted for any reason, the old cells do not die but continue to grow and multiply into abnormal cells. Cancer cell growth is different from normal cell growth in that it is not regulated and cannot be controlled by normal checkpoints in the body that work on normal tissues. Desai, MD , is a beacon of hope in the fight against glioblastoma.

Currently in clinical trials at Penn, Dr. November 14, Topics: Brain Tumor. About this Blog. Date Archives Year Share This Page: Post Tweet.

Find a Program or Service. Investigators are developing techniques using ultrasound and performing surgery in MRI scanners to help update the navigation system data during surgery. Intraoperative language mapping is considered by some as a critically important technique for patients with tumors affecting language function, such as large, dominant-hemisphere gliomas.

This procedure involves operating on a conscious patient and mapping the anatomy of their language function during the operation. The doctor then decides which portions of the tumor are safe to resect. Recent studies have determined that cortical language mapping may be used as a safe and efficient adjunct to optimize glioma resection while preserving essential language sites. Ventriculoperitoneal shunting may be required for some patients with brain tumors.

Everyone has cerebrospinal fluid CSF within the brain and spine that is slowly circulating all the time. If this flow becomes blocked, the sacs that contain the fluid the ventricles can become enlarged, creating increased pressure within the head, resulting in a condition called hydrocephalus.

If left untreated, hydrocephalus can cause brain damage and even death. The neurosurgeon may decide to use a shunt to divert the spinal fluid away from the brain and, therefore, reduce the pressure. The body cavity in which the CSF is diverted usually is the peritoneal cavity the area surrounding the abdominal organs.

The shunt usually is permanent. Another method that may be used to control obstruction of the brain fluid pathways is called an Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy. This helps the brain fluid be diverted around the obstruction without the need for a shunt. Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells and abnormal brain cells and to shrink tumors. Radiation therapy may be an option if the tumor cannot be treated effectively through surgery.

Chemotherapy generally is considered to be effective for specific pediatric tumors, lymphomas and some oligodendrogliomas. While it has been proven that chemotherapy improves overall survival in patients with the most malignant primary brain tumors, it does so in only in about 20 percent of all patients, and physicians cannot readily predict which patients will benefit before treatment. As such, some physicians choose not to use chemotherapy because of the potential side effects lung scarring , suppression of the immune system, nausea, etc.

Chemotherapy works by inflicting cell damage that is better repaired by normal tissue than tumor tissue. Resistance to chemotherapy might involve survival of tumor tissue that cannot respond to the drug, or the inability of the drug to pass from the bloodstream into the brain. A special barrier exists between the bloodstream and the brain tissue called the blood-brain barrier.

Some investigators have tried to improve the effect of chemotherapy by disrupting this barrier or by injecting the drug into the tumor or brain. The goal of another class of drugs is not to kill the tumor cells but, rather, to block further tumor growth.

In some cases, growth modifiers such as breast cancer treatment drug Tamoxifen have been used to attempt to stop the growth of tumors resistant to other treatments. In , the U. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of chemotherapy-impregnated wafers, which can be applied by the neurosurgeon at the time of surgery. The wafers slowly secrete the drug into the tumor, and the patient receives chemotherapy with the systemic side effects of treatment.

Laser Thermal Ablation is a newer technique that some centers are using to treat smaller tumors particularly in areas that may be more difficult to reach using previous open surgery procedures. This involves placing a tiny catheter within the lesion, possibly completing a biopsy, then using laser to thermally ablate the lesion. This technique is only more recently used in brain tumor treatments, therefore the long term efficacy has not been established.

Many types of new therapies currently are being studied, especially on tumors for which the prognosis is generally poor through existing conventional therapies.

It is unknown whether these therapies will work. Such therapies are given according to a protocol and include various forms of immunotherapy, therapy using targeted toxins, anti-angiogenesis therapy, gene therapy and differentiation therapy.

Combinations of treatments also may be able to improve the outlook for patients, while lowering the adverse side effects. The AANS does not endorse any treatments, procedures, products or physicians referenced in these patient fact sheets. This information is provided as an educational service and is not intended to serve as medical advice. Register with iGive.