Understanding Brain Tumors: Causes, Symptoms, and Modern Treatment Advances

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• What Causes Brain Tumors?
• Common Brain Tumor Symptoms
• Advances in Brain Tumor Treatment
• Can Brain Tumors Be Prevented?
• The Role of Medical Second Opinion
• Diagnosing a Brain Tumor

What Causes Brain Tumors?

Brain tumor causes are mostly unknown, according to neurosurgeon Dr. Arthur Day, MD. While radiation therapy is a known rare cause, the vast majority of brain tumors appear for unknown reasons. Brain tumors form from brain tissue itself or from adjacent structures within the head. Dr. Arthur Day, MD, explains that common origins include the coverings of the brain (meningiomas), the pituitary gland (pituitary adenomas), or the nerves traveling next to the brain, such as those causing acoustic neuromas.

Identifying the specific tissue a tumor originated from is a critical first step for specialists. This classification is fundamental to determining the best treatment pathway for a patient. As Dr. Arthur Day, MD, emphasizes, understanding where a tumor comes from inside the brain provides crucial clinical context.

Common Brain Tumor Symptoms

Symptoms of a brain tumor depend heavily on its location and type. Dr. Arthur Day, MD, describes that a growing tumor creates pressure inside the skull, which can manifest in various ways. Common brain tumor symptoms include persistent headaches that are different from typical migraines, weakness or paralysis, and seizures, which are often a first presenting symptom.

Other warning signs involve mental status changes, personality deterioration, memory loss, or altered consciousness. Dr. Arthur Day, MD, notes that tumors pressing on cranial nerves can cause very specific symptoms, like sensory disturbances, numbness, or pins and needles in the arms or legs, signaling a problem even when the tumor is still small.

Advances in Brain Tumor Treatment

Treatment of brain tumors is a rapidly advancing field. Dr. Arthur Day, MD, highlights several modern technologies. Neurosurgery has seen dramatic improvements, with surgeons using advanced computer planning to map the safest trajectory to find and remove a tumor while minimizing brain damage.

Focused radiation therapy, such as Gamma Knife, offers a non-invasive option for certain tumors. Chemotherapy remains a key component, and new modalities like immunotherapy are beginning to make a real impact on success rates, especially for tumors within the brain substance itself. Dr. Day confirms that these combined advances are actively improving brain tumor survival rates.

Can Brain Tumors Be Prevented?

For primary brain tumors that start in the brain, Dr. Arthur Day, MD, states there is no known prevention method. However, a significant number of brain tumors are metastases—cancers that have spread from other organs.

Preventing these secondary brain tumors is possible by addressing their root causes. For example, not smoking reduces lung cancer risk, and early diagnosis and treatment of cancers like breast cancer in their organ of origin can prevent them from spreading to the brain. Dr. Day’s analysis shows that overall health vigilance is the best strategy for reducing metastatic brain tumor risk.

The Role of Medical Second Opinion

Dr. Arthur Day, MD, and interviewer Dr. Anton Titov, MD, both stress the critical importance of a medical second opinion in brain tumor care. A second opinion confirms that the initial brain tumor diagnosis is correct and complete. It also verifies whether advanced imaging like MRI and PET scans are required for a full evaluation.

Most importantly, seeking a medical second opinion helps patients choose the best treatment option, whether it involves open brain surgery, focused radiation, or other modalities. This process provides confidence that the selected treatment plan is the most appropriate and advanced available.

Diagnosing a Brain Tumor

Early diagnosis of a brain tumor can be challenging because initial signs are often non-specific. As Dr. Arthur Day, MD, discussed, symptoms like headaches or subtle sensory changes require thorough medical investigation. The diagnostic process typically begins with a detailed neurological exam followed by imaging studies.

MRI scans are the cornerstone of brain tumor diagnosis, providing detailed images of the brain’s structure. In some cases, a PET scan may be used to assess metabolic activity and distinguish between tumor types. A definitive diagnosis often requires a biopsy, where a small sample of tissue is analyzed to determine the tumor’s exact nature and origin, guiding all subsequent treatment decisions.

Full Transcript

Brain tumor causes, symptoms, and treatment is reviewed by leading neurosurgeon. What causes brain tumors to appear? Where do brain tumors come from? What are the common symptoms of brain tumors? What are recent advances in treatment of brain tumors? Is it possible to prevent brain tumors and avoid brain cancer? Brain tumor causes, symptoms, and treatment. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. Interview with prominent neurosurgeon Dr. Arthur L. Day, MD.

Benign brain tumor treatment options require a medical second opinion. They include open brain surgery and focused radiation therapy (gamma knife). Meningioma treatment options also require a medical second opinion before surgery or gamma knife are considered.

Symptoms and signs of brain tumors include headaches, changes in face and eye movements, changes in moving arms and legs, and seizures. Early signs of brain tumor are often non-specific. A medical second opinion helps in diagnosis of brain tumor.

Brain tumor symptoms include sensory disturbances. It is numbness and pins and needles in arms or legs. Brain cancer causes are mostly unknown. Dr. Arthur L. Day, MD. Brain tumor causes seizures. These are often the first presenting symptom.

Brain tumor also causes headaches. Headaches are persistent. Brain tumor headaches are different than typical migraine headaches. Brain tumor survival rate is improving with more technology in treatment. There is a better early diagnosis.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: Video interview with leading expert in cerebrovascular neurosurgery and minimally invasive neurosurgery. A medical second opinion confirms that brain tumor diagnosis is correct and complete. A medical second opinion also confirms that brain tumor MRI and PET evaluation is required.

A medical second opinion helps to choose the best treatment for brain tumor. Get a medical second opinion on brain tumor and be confident that your treatment is the best. Brain tumor causes, symptoms, and treatment. Dr. Arthur L. Day, MD.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: Let's turn attention to brain tumors. Where do brain tumors come from?

Dr. Arthur Day, MD: Your question about brain tumors can have two meanings. What brain structures give rise to brain tumors? What makes brain tumors appear in a person? We don't know what makes brain tumors appear. There are some examples that radiation therapy can cause brain tumors to form. But most of the time brain tumors appear for unknown reasons.

Brain tumors form most often from the brain tissue itself. Sometimes brain tumors form from structures and tissues that are located next to the brain. Here are some examples of tissues and brain structures that give rise to brain tumors. It is coverings of the brain (meningioma), pituitary gland (pituitary adenoma), or nerves that travel next to the brain (acoustic neuroma).

There are several structures inside the head. Brain tumor may originate from them. Brain tumor specialists identify the type of tissue that gave rise to a brain tumor. This helps to find the best treatment for patient with a brain tumor.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: What are the most common symptoms of brain tumors? Symptoms of brain tumor depend on the location of brain tumor. Symptoms depend on the type of brain tumor. But what are the most common symptoms of a brain tumor? What should people pay attention to?

Dr. Arthur Day, MD: Patients with brain tumor have a growing process in their head. Something is getting bigger. Growing brain tumor starts to put pressure on the brain. Growing pressure can cause weakness or paralysis.

Sometimes the brain tumor is located near motor function area of the brain cortex. Sometimes brain tumor is located in a more silent area of the brain. Patients with such tumors might experience headaches.

Sometimes brain tumor causes mental status changes or a deterioration of personality (changes in person's character). Some brain tumors cause loss of memory function or change in consciousness. Symptoms of brain tumor depend on where exactly the tumor originated.

Some brain tumors may originate next to a cranial nerve. They put pressure on the nerve and disturb its function. This can signal to a person that there is a brain tumor while the tumor is still very small.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: This is a very big topic to discuss. But what are recent advances in treatment of brain tumors? Treatment of brain tumors is a very active field of medicine. Many new medical technologies are being developed to treat brain tumors.

Dr. Arthur Day, MD: Brain tumor treatment will depend whether it originated from the brain or from structures next to the brain. Neurosurgery has made dramatic advances over the years. Neurosurgeons can remove part of the skull. This creates space where a neurosurgeon can work on the brain without causing damage to the brain.

But if the tumor is actually in the brain, then neurosurgeon has to go into the brain itself. This is how neurosurgeon can remove the tumor. Computer technology to plan the safest trajectory to find and remove the tumor is a big help in treatment of brain tumors.

Addition of focused radiation to treat brain tumors is a big help. Chemotherapy is also potentially a big help in treating brain tumors. There are also new modalities of therapy. For example, there is immunotherapy to treat brain tumors.

Immunotherapy starts to make a real change in predicting success of treating brain tumors. These tumors are in the brain substance itself. There is a lot of activity in treatment of brain tumors.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: What can people do to decrease the risk of development of brain tumors? What are diseases that can increase a person's risk of development of brain tumors?

Dr. Arthur Day, MD: For a tumor that starts in the brain there is no known method to prevent that from happening. Sometimes a person is going to get a tumor of the brain. Then the tumor will appear in the brain.

But many tumors spread to the brain (metastasize to the brain) from other organs. For many tumors in other organs we know the causes. For example, smoking causes lung cancer. Breast cancer can also spread to the brain.

People can reduce risks to get those tumors, for example, lung cancer. Other tumors can be diagnosed early, and tumors treated in the organ where they originated. Treatment of those tumors before they spread to the brain can prevent metastatic brain tumors.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: This is a very good idea. Brain tumor causes, symptoms, and treatment. Brain tumors - why they form? Where do brain tumors come from inside the brain? A neurosurgeon’s view.