Brain Tumor Cancer Awareness

May is National Brain Tumor Cancer Awareness

The American Cancer Society's estimates for brain and spinal cord tumors in the United States are for 2015. They include both adults and children.

About 22,850 malignant tumors of the brain or spinal cord (12,900 in males and 9,950 in females) will be diagnosed. These numbers would likely be much higher if benign tumors were also included.

Source: American Cancer Society (ACS): What are the key statistics about brain and spinal cord tumors?

Adult Brain Tumor Information:

A Brain Tumor is a mass or growth of abnormal cells in your brain. It is very important to distinguish between benign (non-cancerous) and malignant (cancerous) tumors. Benign tumors in other parts of the body do not grow into nearby tissues or spread to distant areas, so they are almost never life threatening. One of the main reasons cancers are so dangerous is because they can spread throughout the body.

Tumors that start in the brain (primary brain tumors) are not the same as tumors that start in other organs, such as the lung or breast, and then spread to the brain (metastatic or secondary brain tumors). In adults, metastatic tumors to the brain are actually more common than primary brain tumors. These tumors are not treated the same way. For example, breast or lung cancers that spread to the brain are treated differently from tumors that start in the brain.

Primary brain tumors can start in almost any type of tissue or cell in the brain or spinal cord. Some tumors have a mixture of cell types. Types of brain tumors in adults:

Gliomas
Astrocytomas
Oligodendrogliomas
Ependymomas
Meningiomas
Medulloblastomas
Gangliogliomas
Schwannomas (neurilemmomas)
Craniopharyngiomas

Other tumors that can start in or near the brain:

Chordomas
Non-Hodgkin lymphomas

Source: American Cancer Society (ACS): What are adult brain and spinal cord tumors? and
Types of brain and spinal cord tumors in adults.

Risk Factors for Brain or Spinal Cord Tumors

A risk factor is anything that affects your chance of getting a disease such as a brain or spinal cord tumor. Different types of cancer have different risk factors. Some risk factors, like smoking, you can change. Others, like your age or family history, can’t be changed.

But risk factors don't tell us everything. Having a risk factor, or even several, does not always mean that a person will get the disease, and many people get tumors without having any known risk factors. Even if a person has a risk factor, it is often very hard to know how much it may have contributed to the tumor.

Most brain tumors are not associated with any known risk factors and have no obvious cause. But there are a few factors that may raise the risk of brain tumors.

Radiation Exposure
Family History of certain conditions:
- Neurofibromatosis type 1 and 2
- Tuberous sclerosis
- Von Hippel-Lindau disease
- Li-Fraumeni syndrome
Immune System Disorders

Source: American Cancer Society (ACS): What are the risk factors for brain and spinal cord tumors?

Screening and Prevention

Cancer screening exams are important medical tests done when you're at risk but don’t have symptoms. They help find cancer at its earliest stage, when the chances for successful treatment are highest.

Unfortunately, no standardized screening tests have been shown to improve brain tumor outcomes.

The cause of most brain and spinal cord tumors is not fully understood. Other than radiation, there are no known lifestyle-related or environmental causes of brain tumors, so it is important to remember that there is nothing these people could have done to prevent these cancers.

Researchers now understand some of the gene changes that may occur in different types of brain tumors, but it's still not clear what might cause these changes. Some gene changes may be inherited, but most brain and spinal cord tumors are not the result of known inherited syndromes. Other gene changes may just be a random event that sometimes happens inside a cell, without having an external cause.

While making healthy lifestyle choices cannot guarantee a person will remain cancer-free, many studies have shown that people who make healthy choices have lower chances of developing some cancers. For people seeking ways to do all they can to prevent cancer and avoid other health problems, certain recommendations are universally endorsed by health care providers:

avoid smoking or chewing tobacco;
eat a variety of healthful foods, especially low-fat and plant-based options;
get regular exercise and maintain a healthy weight;
limit sun exposure, and when outdoors wear sun block.

These choices support a healthy lifestyle and may improve the body's ability to fend off cancer.