Brain Tumour | Brain Cancer

A brain tumor is a mass or growth of abnormal cells in your brain.

Many different types of brain tumors exist. Some brain tumors are noncancerous (benign), and some brain tumors are cancerous (malignant). Brain tumors can begin in your brain (primary brain tumors), or cancer can begin in other parts of your body and spread to your brain (secondary, or metastatic, brain tumours).

Types of Brain tumour

• Acoustic neuroma
• Astrocytoma
• Brain metastases
• Choroid plexus carcinoma
• Craniopharyngioma
• Embryonal tumors
• Ependymoma
• Glioblastoma
• Glioma
• Medulloblastoma
• Meningioma
• Oligodendroglioma
• Pediatric brain tumors
• Pineoblastoma
• Pituitary tumors

Symptoms of Brain tumour

The signs and symptoms of a brain tumour vary greatly and depend on the brain tumour’s size, location and rate of growth.

General signs and symptoms caused by brain tumours may include:

• New onset or change in pattern of headaches
• Headaches gradually become more frequent and more severe
• Unexplained nausea or vomiting
• Vision problems, such as blurred vision, double vision or loss of peripheral vision
• Gradual loss of sensation or movement in an arm or a leg
• Difficulty with balance
• Speech difficulties
• Confusion in everyday matters
• Personality or behavior changes
• Seizures, especially in someone who doesn’t have a history of seizures
• Hearing problem

Metastatic brain cancer

Cancer that begins elsewhere and spreads to the brain

Secondary (metastatic) brain tumours are tumours that result from cancer that starts elsewhere in your body and then spreads (metastasizes) to your brain.

In adults, secondary brain tumors are far more common than are primary brain tumors.

Any cancer can spread to the brain, but common types include:

Breast cancer

Colon cancer

Kidney cancer

Lung cancer

Melanoma

Risk factors for brain tumours

In most people with primary brain tumours, the cause of the tumour is not clear. But doctors have identified some factors that may increase your risk of a brain tumour.

Risk factors include:

Exposure to radiation. People who have been exposed to a type of radiation including radiation therapy used to treat cancer and radiation exposure caused by atomic bombs.

Family history of brain tumors

How are brain tumours diagnosed

If you have symptoms that suggest a brain tumor, your doctor will give you a physical exam and ask about your personal and family health history. You may have one or more of the following tests:

• Neurologic exam: Your doctor checks your vision, hearing, alertness, muscle strength, coordination, and reflexes.
• MRI
• CT scan
• Angiogram
• Spinal tap: Your doctor may remove a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid that fills the spaces in and around the brain and spinal cord).
• Biopsy

Treatment

Surgery

Radiation treatment

Chemotherapy

What supportive care is available for patients and caregivers

A brain tumour and its treatment can lead to other health problems. You may receive supportive care from ACCN to prevent or control these problems.

You can have supportive care before, during, and after cancer treatment. It can improve your comfort and quality of life during treatment.

Your health care team can help you with the following problems:

Swelling of the brain

Seizures

Fluid buildup in the skull

Sadness and other feelings

Symptoms of Advanced stage of Brain tumour

The effect of a tumour and swelling on the whole brain affects the normal functioning of the brain. As the cancer progresses it may produce these symptoms:

• Increased sleepiness;
• Decreased ability to move around;
• Trouble speaking or understanding conversation;
• Loss of memory and especially the ability to form new memories;
• Impaired judgment, especially the ability to judge how much help one needs to get around;
• Weakness, which may affect only one side of the body;
• Seizures;
• Headaches;
• Extreme mood changes.

You should know that treatment for pain is part of cancer treatment. It is important to resist the big myth that because cancer is a serious disease, pain is to be expected. Most people can get complete relief for their pain — or at least significant relief that allows them to enjoy the activities of daily life.

What is advanced or metastatic Brain cancer

Advanced brain cancer includes stage 3 and stage 4 and terminal cancer. Stage 3 includes when cancer spreads to other tissues in and around the ovary and / or lymph nodes. Stage 4 includes metastasis.

Metastasis happens when cancer cells break away from a primary tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system (the system that produces stores and carries the cells that fight infections). When cancer cells spread and form a new tumour in a different organ, the new tumor is a metastatic tumor, the cells of which come from the original tumor. The most common sites of metastasis from liver cancer tumors are the lungs, bones and brain. Cancer can spread to other parts of the body, too.

Are you suffering from pain?

Any cancer has only 4 treatments. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and pain relief treatment / pain management.

What is the stage of cancer? Stage decides the treatment. All advanced cancers cannot be treated by chemotherapy and / or radiation therapy. Chemotherapy / radiation therapy may not benefit in stage 4 cancer. Recent research tells that unnecessary chemotherapy may reduce quality & life span too. Pain is the most common problem in stage 3 or 4. Please remember Pain definitely can be controlled or treated at any stage of cancer. Even if you are taking ayurvedic treatment for cancer or homeopathic treatment, it will not help in pain relief – You must take pain management treatment. Pain relief is important for continuing any treatment. Pain relief needs dedicated pain management treatment usually offered by Pain specialist doctors. In addition to best cancer specialist, ACCN is proud to have best pain specialist doctor in Delhi and in India. Pain management and cancer treatment goes side by side. Demand a pain free cancer treatment.

One must always remember that in stage 3 / stage 4 / terminal cancer – palliative care and pain relief treatment is usually the priority treatment so that pain relief continues at home too.  Pain free journey of cancer ie pain free cancer treatment helps in prolongation of life.

Advanced-Cancer Care Network, Delhi, India, with its branches (contact) at Delhi and Rohtak (Haryana) is a unique conglomeration of super-specialist doctors, who believe in well-being of human life.  ACCN is the most advanced centre for stage 3 cancer, stage 4 cancer, advanced stage cancer, terminal cancer, Cancer pain management and palliative care. It offers the unique and state-of-the-art treatment for pain relief and cancer treatment in India.

Click on Pain relief in brain Cancer to know the best pain management methods at home for brain cancer.

#wincancerpain

Palliative care

Palliative care is designed to give symptomatic relief to the patient, control the side-effects of illness or treatment and improve quality of life of cancer patients. Palliative care treatment is provided by a medical specialist, other than oncosurgeon or oncologist. This medical specialist is known as “Pain & Palliative Care Specialist”. India has very limited number of such specialists and if you are also not able to find one for yourself, please contact ACCN (Advanced – Cancer Care Network), we are proud to have India”s best and most qualified Pain Specialists and Palliative Care Specialists.

Click on Understanding palliative care to know the palliative care treatment for stage 3 cancer or stage 4 cancer or advanced stage cervical cancer.

Role of Palliative Care Treatment

It is usually said that role of palliative care starts, when cancer becomes incurable or advanced stage or terminal or at end-of-life. It is one of the biggest myths in cancer treatment protocols. Palliative care specialist must be consulted and involved in the cancer treatment right from the first day when cancer is diagnosed and treatment is started. Initially when cancer is at stage 1 or 2, complete focus is on cancer cure and palliative care has minimal but very important role. As the cancer (if) progresses, gradually role of palliative care also enlarges.In stage 3 or stage 4.role of palliative care becomes much more important than other regular cancer treatments.

Click on How we can help to know about our various services for advanced cancer patients.

Click on Symptom control to understand that how we can provide suffering free life to advanced cancer patient.

Benefits of Palliative Care

• Makes patient feel better and stay active during treatment
• Manages side-effects of cancer treatment
• Facilitates as high a quality of life as possible
• Helps cancer treatments do a better job
• Can be curative as well as life-supporting treatment
• Cancer diet planning
• Improves survival outcomes
• Increases immunity levels
• Improves communication between patient and family members
• Maintains hope and stick to principals of ethics