Brain Cancer

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Brain cancer (click on one)

Introduction

Cause of brain cancer

Signs and symptoms of brain cancer

Diagnostic tests of brain cancer

Treatment of brain cancer

Types of brain cancer

[edit] Brain Cancer

Introduction:

Brain cancer is perhaps one of the more emotionally charged diseases of man. This is not only because of the realization that cancer often shortens a person's life, but at the same time it changes the personality of the patient.

This can be very upsetting and emotionally draining for the family members . Sometimes the person gets diagnosed in the work-up of a seizure or because of headaches, and the patient may suddenly die within only a few days or weeks as a result of a rapidly growing brain tumor.

At other times the patient may be alive for several years, but needs several surgeries or treatments for a recurrent brain cancer. In that case the personality, mentation and energy level tends to deteriorate as the cancer slowly spreads within the brain.

Often there has been a cancer elsewhere in the body (breast, prostate, lungs or melanoma of the skin) and brain metastases are part of that cancer spreading throughout the body. x-rays need to be done very quickly in that situation, as the neurosurgeon can often intervene in an early stage and the surgery will extend the patient's lifetime to a certain degree. In about 2% of routine autopsies brain cancer is found by the pathologist as a surprise finding.

The following outline can only give a global overview of this very complex topic. There are about 15 primary cancers of the brain and spinal cord from a histological point of view and I will only mention the most common ones here. Click on brain cancer and choose a topic in the table.

Home page

Cancer overview

Brain cancer

Neurological disease

Common causes of headaches

References:

The following references were used apart from my own clinical experience:

1. Cancer: Principles &Practice of Oncology, 4^th edition, by V.T. De Vita,Jr., et. al J.B. Lippincott Co.,Philadelphia, 1993. Chapter 48.

2. Cancer: Principles&Practice of Oncology. 5th edition, volume 2. Edited by Vincent T. DeVita, Jr. et al. Lippincott-Raven Publ., Philadelphia,PA, 1997. Chapter 42, page 2013: Neoplasms of the Central Nervous System.

3. The Merck Manual, 7^th edition, by M. H. Beers et al., Whitehouse Station, N.J., 1999. Chapter 177.

4. T Kilic et al. Cancer Res 2000 Sep 15;60(18):5143-5150.

5. Conn's Current Therapy 2004, 56th ed., Copyright © 2004 Elsevier

6. Ferri: Ferri's Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment, 2004 ed., Copyright © 2004 Mosby, Inc