Back to Site

  1. Home
    2. >
  2. Brain Tumour
Brain tumours

5 Things You Must Know About Brain Tumours

Jun 7th, 2022

Archive for the ‘ Brain Tumour ’ Category

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

All About Brain Tumours

Tuesday, June 8th, 2021

The experience of you or a loved one going through a brain tumour diagnosis and treatment can be confusing, frightening, and isolating. However, advances in science, medical technology, and cutting-edge infrastructure have played a significant role in lowering the mortality rate of brain tumour patients and improving their quality of life. Early detection and timely treatment is the key towards efficient management of brain tumour. 

A brain tumour is an abnormal growth of cells inside the brain or skull; some are benign, while others are cancerous. Tumours can develop from the brain tissue itself (primary), or cancer can spread to the brain from elsewhere in the body (metastasis). Treatment options vary depending on the type, size, and location of the tumour. Treatment objectives may be curative or symptomatic. Many of the 120 types of brain tumours can be successfully treated if detected early.

Symptoms of Brain Tumour

Every person diagnosed with a brain tumour will have different symptoms and their own journey to a diagnosis. While some people do not develop symptoms that would indicate a tumour, others may have symptoms that worsen overtime eventually leading to a diagnosis. Here are some symptoms that need further investigation:

  • Cognitive or behavioural changes
  • Dizziness or unsteadiness
  • Double or blurred vision
  • Frequent headaches
  • Seizures
  • Weakness or paralysis

Types of Brain Tumour

Brain tumours are classified into:

  • Primary brain tumours include tumours that originate from the tissues of the brain or the brain’s immediate surroundings.
  • Secondary brain tumours start somewhere else in your body and travel to the brain. Lung, breast, kidney, colon, and skin cancers are among the most common cancers that spread to your brain.

Malignant and non-malignant Brain Ttumours

Benign brain tumours don’t have cancer cells. They grow slowly, are easily removed, and seldom spread to the surrounding brain tissue. They can be life-threatening depending on which section of the brain they occur in. Cancer cells can be seen in malignant brain tumours that grow quickly and have the ability to infiltrate healthy brain tissue and cause damage.

Brain Tumour Risk Factors

The cause of brain tumour is still largely unknown. Although some genetic conditions and environmental factors may contribute to the development of brain tumour and may increase your risk of having it. These include:

  • Gender: Certain cancers, like meningiomas, are twice as likely to develop in women, while medulloblastomas are more frequently found in males.
  • Age: The frequency of brain cancer increases with age, with more occurrences in individuals age 65 and older.
  • Compromised immune system: Some people with compromised immune systems have an increased risk of developing lymphomas of the brain.
  • Genetic links: Certain inherited conditions make you more prone to have brain tumours.
  • Chemical exposure: Exposure to certain industrial chemicals or solvents has been linked to an increased risk in developing brain cancer.
  • Previous radiation treatment: Exposure to radiation therapy, particularly at a young age, may increase the likelihood of developing brain cancer.

There is no defined way to prevent a brain tumour. However, you can reduce your risk of developing a brain tumour by avoiding environmental hazards such as smoking and excessive exposure to radiation.

Brain Tumour Treatment at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital

A brain tumour is a rare diagnosis, but if detected may cause immense emotional and physical discomfort to the patient. Our Centre for Neurosciences offers multi-disciplinary care and assists your brain tumour journey through diagnosis, treatment, follow-up visits and rehabilitation care. Our team of highly trained neurologists are well equipped with the most advanced imaging technology to help identity and diagnose your brain tumour with utmost accuracy. Our dedicated team of neurosurgeons, medical oncologists, neuroradiologists, paediatric oncologists and neurorehabilitation experts support our patients with all aspects of living with a brain tumour and is equipped with advanced treatment options. Our team of neorurosurgeons offer high-quality treatment options that include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, surgery, etc. Expert neurosurgeons at our Centre for Neurosciences have performed about 1375 brain tumour surgeries with positive results in the past. Our Centre for Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation  understands the nuances of brain tumour and supports patients recovering from a surgery with the most advanced and trusted rehabilitation techniques. Our specialists also use the latest operative advances with navigation, stereotactic radiotherapy, awake surgery techniques, neurophysiology monitoring with MEP and SSEP to help deliver better outcomes. Here are some of the innovative technologies we use:

  • Cavitron Ultrasonic Aspirator (CUSA) – Increases safety and reduces operating time during a brain surgery.
  • NEURONAVIGATION SYSTEM – Guides neurosurgeons during brain tumour surgery for better surgical outcomes.
  • ZEISS OPMI Pentero Microscope – Provides neurosurgeons with more powerful magnification during brain tumour removal and resections.
  • 3T Magnetom trio – Utilizing shorter scan times and providing maximum patient comfort, this high field MRI offers high-end imaging results.
  • NOVALIS TX(Stereotactic Radiosurgery) – Used to treat brain tumours.
  • Leksel stereotactic system – Used in stereotactic biopsy of brain tumours and stereotactic radiosurgery.

For further information on our Centre for Neurosciences, please visit the below link: https://www.kokilabenhospital.com/departments/centresofexcellence/centrefor_neurosciences.html

World Brain Tumour Day

Thursday, June 4th, 2020

A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in the brain or central spine that can disrupt proper brain function. There are over 120 types of brain and central nervous system tumors. Brain and spinal cord tumors are different for everyone. They form in different areas, develop from different cell types, and may have different treatment options.

The brain is the body organ composed of nerve cells and supportive tissues like glial cells and meninges – there are three major parts – they control your activity like breathing (brain stem), an activity like moving muscles to walk (cerebellum) and your senses like sight and our memory, emotions, thinking and personality (cerebrum). This is how brain tumors are classified:

  • Benign: The least aggressive type of brain tumor is often called a benign brain tumor. They originate from cells within or surrounding the brain, do not contain cancer cells, grow slowly, and typically have clear borders that do not spread into other tissue.
  • Malignant: Malignant brain tumors contain cancer cells and often do not have clear borders. They are considered to be life-threatening because they grow rapidly and invade surrounding brain tissue.
  • Primary: Tumors that start in cells of the brain are called primary brain tumors. Primary brain tumors may spread to other parts of the brain or the spine, but rarely to other organs.
  • Metastatic: Metastatic or secondary brain tumors begin in another part of the body and then spread to the brain. These tumors are more common than primary brain tumors and are named by the location in which they begin.

Types of Brain Tumours

Doctors group brain tumors by grade: grade I, grade II, grade III, or grade IV -the most severe. The grade is determined by the way the cells look under a microscope. The higher the grade number, the more abnormal the cells appear, and the more aggressively the tumor usually behaves.

The most common types of primary brain tumors among adults are astrocytoma, meningiom (a tumor that arises from the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord), and oligodendroglioma.

The most common types of primary brain tumors in children are medulloblastoma, grade I or II astrocytoma, (or glioma) ependymoma, and brain stem glioma.

Symptoms of Brain tumor:

Symptoms of brain tumors depend on the location and size of the tumor. Some tumors cause direct damage by invading brain tissue and some tumors cause pressure on the surrounding brain. You’ll have noticeable symptoms when a growing tumor is putting pressure on your brain tissue. Some of these symptoms include:

  • Severe headaches that become more frequent.
  • Unexplained nausea or vomiting.
  • Gradual loss of sensation or movement in an arm or a leg.
  • Difficulty with balance.
  • Vision problems, such as blurred vision double vision or loss of vision.
  • Speech difficulties.
  • Seizures, with no previous history of seizures.

Risk factors of Brain tumors:

Although there are no known causes why Brain tumors occur certain factors highly increase a person’s risk of getting brain tumors. Here are the common risk factors:

  • Family history: Only about 5 to 10 percent of all cancers are genetically inherited, or hereditary. It’s rare for a brain tumor to be genetically inherited.
  • Age: The risk for most types of brain tumors increases with age.
  • Chemical exposure: Being exposed to hazardous chemicals at work or elsewhere can increase your risk of brain tumor. 
  • Exposure to radiation: People who have been exposed to ionizing radiation have an increased risk of brain tumors. This can happen during high-radiation cancer therapies.

Treatment at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital:

Treatment options for Brain tumors depend on several factors:

  • The size, type, and grade of the tumor.
  • Whether the tumor is putting pressure on vital parts of the brain.
  • If the tumor has spread to other parts of the body.
  • Possible side effects.
  • The patient’s overall health.

In most cases, a brain tumor diagnosis requires immediate surgery or alternative treatment. Experts at our Centre for Neurosciences work together and create a comprehensive treatment plan for the patient. A multi-disciplinary team that includes neurosurgeons, neurologists, medical and paediatric oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists and other medical professionals may be part of the treatment team.

The standard treatment for brain tumors includes surgery, radiation therapy, and/or chemotherapy. Advanced treatments like targeted therapy,  stereotactic radiosurgery and robotic surgery are also being used to treat a brain tumor. Additionally Palliative care, as well as neuro-rehabilitaion services, help support the patient’s recovery.

Looking for the best Brain Tumor treatment for a loved one? Consult highly trained experts at our Centre for Neurosciences which are supported by high-end technologies too. Please find below link for more details:

https://www.kokilabenhospital.com/departments/centresofexcellence/centrefor_neurosciences/braintumor.html