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| Diagnosis of a brain or spine tumor is devastating |
What was it like to be diagnosed with a golf ball-sized brain tumor? Any patient diagnosed to have a brain tumor, cancer or any life-threatening disease would surely be devastated. I recently attended a webicon on a multidisciplinary approach to brain and spine tumor management organized by Cardinal Santos Medical Center Hospital. And I was glad to know more about the latest treatment innovation in medicine for brain and spine tumor management as well as certain cancers.
According to a panel of doctors, a brain tumor is a mass or growth of abnormal cells in your brain. There are actually a lot of different types of brain tumors that 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 as secondary (metastatic) brain tumors.
How quickly a brain tumor grows can vary greatly. The growth rate, as well as the location of a brain tumor, determines how it will affect the function of your nervous system.
Brain tumor treatment options depend on the type of brain tumor you have, as well as its size and location.
What are the signs and symptoms of brain and spine tumors?
*Headache
*Nausea
*Vomiting
* Vision problems
*Speech difficulty
*Hearing difficulty
*Weakness in Arms and
Legs
*Confusion
*Balance difficulty
But contrary to what most
people believed, headaches are not necessarily caused by tumors. In fact, it is
rarely caused by a brain tumor. It may be the presenting symptom in 25% of
brain tumors. It arises from increased pressure from tumor growth and swelling.
What headache symptoms
require immediate medical care?
*Headaches associated
with neurologic symptoms
*Headaches that awaken
you at night
*Headaches that worsen
with exertion or physical activities
Nausea and vomiting are
usually from increased intracranial pressure from an enlarging tumor.
Involvement of structures near the vomiting center.
Blurring of vision or
double vision: Can present as blurred or double vision, abnormal eye movements, and restricted field of view. Causes may arise from increased pressure in the brain or compression of specific brain structures.
Signs and Symptoms of Seizures: Uncontrolled jerking movements of the extremities, loss of consciousness/awareness, temporary confusion, cognitive or emotional symptoms, fear, anxiety, abnormal smell.
FACTS: Most seizures are not caused by brain tumors. Seizures from brain tumors are usually focal in character. A late-onset seizure/epilepsy should raise suspicion for a possible anatomic cause (stroke, tumor)
BALANCE PROBLEMS:
From impingement of brain structures that control coordination. May be accompanied by dizziness and cranial nerve dysfunction (facial pain/numbness/weakness, hearing loss, swallowing, and speech pattern).
Tumors in different parts of the brain or spinal cord can cause different symptoms. But these symptoms can be caused by any abnormality in that particular location — they do not always mean a person has a brain or spinal cord tumor.
• Tumors in the parts of the cerebrum (the large, outer part of the brain) that control movement or sensation can cause weakness or numbness of part of the body, often on just one side.
• Tumors in or near the parts of the cerebrum responsible for language can cause problems with speech or even understanding words.
• Tumors in the front part of the cerebrum can sometimes affect thinking, personality, and language.
• If the tumor is in the cerebellum (the lower, back part of the brain that controls coordination), a person might have trouble walking; trouble with precise movements of hands, arms, feet, and legs; problems swallowing or synchronizing eye movements; and changes in speech rhythm.
• Tumors in the back part of the cerebrum, or around the pituitary gland, the optic nerve, or certain other cranial nerves can cause vision problems.
• Tumors in or near other cranial nerves might lead to hearing loss (in one or both ears), balance problems, weakness of some facial muscles, facial numbness or pain, or trouble swallowing.
• Spinal cord tumors can cause numbness, weakness, or lack of coordination in the arms and/or legs (usually on both sides of the body), as well as bladder or bowel problems.
The brain also controls functions of some other organs, including hormone production, so brain tumors can also cause many other symptoms not listed here.
Having one or more of the symptoms above does not necessarily mean that you have a brain or spinal cord tumor. All of these symptoms can have other causes. Still, if you have any of these symptoms, especially if they don’t go away or get worse over time, see your doctor so the cause can be found and treated, if needed.
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| Photo taken from Cardinal Santos Brain and Spine Institute |
What conditions does Gamma Knife surgery treat?
The Gamma Knife may be helpful if you
have a brain lesion or tumor that can’t be reached by traditional surgery
techniques or if you’re unable to undergo surgery due to your condition or age.
It can also be combined with traditional surgery to prevent tumor regrowth. The
Gamma Knife is also used for some conditions that require urgent treatment.
Depending on the type and size of the
tumor or lesion, more than one treatment session may be needed. Your
neurosurgeon and/or radiation oncologist will review your treatment plan with
you.
- Steroids—When many people hear ‘steroids’ they think of the steroids used by athletes to build muscle. These are not the same steroids used to treat brain tumors symptoms. Steroids given to a patient for use before, during, or after surgery are called corticosteroids and can help to reduce brain swelling and the buildup of fluids around a tumor.
- Chemotherapy—This treatment may be used to treat the tumor, but is more known for treating malignant or higher-grade tumors. Chemotherapy drugs are used in an attempt to prevent tumor cells from reproducing (cytostatic) or to kill the tumor cells (cytotoxic). Chemotherapy can be administered into the bloodstream through an artery, vein, muscle, the skin or taken by mouth (systemic delivery) or can be delivered closer to the tumor site to avoid the drugs traveling throughout the body (local delivery)
- Radiation-—This is a common cancer treatment for brain tumors. High doses of radiation are administered to the tumor to stop or slow its growth. Radiation can be used alone or in addition to surgery or chemotherapy.
- Stereotactic Radiosurgery—Most people associate surgery with going under the knife. That is not the case with this treatment. Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) is similar to radiation, however, radiation cannot tell the difference between tumor cells and healthy cells. Because doctors can deliver a more focused delivery of treatment to the brain tumor than conventional radiation treatment, this highly focused form of radiation is called radiosurgery. This treatment is usually used to treat small brain and spinal cord tumors, blood vessel abnormalities in the brain, defined areas of cancer, certain small lung and liver tumors, and neurological like movement disorders. SRS can be delivered in two ways:
- Linear Accelerator (LINAC)—uses high-energy X-rays to treat tumors. Microwave technology is used to accelerate electrons which are targeted at a heavy metal target located in the LINAC, which creates high-energy X-rays. For many cancers, LINAC therapy is one of the most precise and advanced forms of radiation treatment available.
- Cobalt-60 Therapy—unlike LINAC therapy, patients are put under local anesthesia for treatment delivery. This treatment is a beta-emitting radioactive isotope of cobalt. The gamma radiation created is used to treat tumors.
- Proton Therapy—Hydrogen nuclei or protons are accelerated by a cyclotron. The protons are then directed at the tumor through beam shaping blocks, which match the shape of the tumor.
- Particle Therapy—similar to proton therapy but larger, heavier particles are used to treat the disease with higher relative biological effectiveness than X-rays or protons.
- Alternative & Integrative Medicine—Some people choose alternative healthcare treatments or wish to combine conventional and alternative therapies – integrative medicine. Given that not all alternative methods are adequately tested and proven, patients should beware that the treatment may not be safe or effective. Caution should be exercised and your conventional doctor consulted when considering integrative therapies. Many doctors may accept some alternative treatments alongside conventional treatments when appropriate.
Cancer that begins elsewhere and spreads to the brain
Secondary (metastatic) brain tumors are tumors that result from cancer that starts elsewhere in your body and then spreads (metastasizes) to your brain.
Secondary brain tumors most often occur in people who have a history of cancer. Rarely, a metastatic brain tumor may be the first sign of cancer that began elsewhere in your body.
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
In most people with primary brain tumors, the cause of the tumor isn't clear. But doctors have identified some factors that may increase your risk of a brain tumor.
Risk factors include:
- Exposure to radiation. People who have been exposed to a type of radiation called ionizing radiation have an increased risk of brain tumor. Examples of ionizing radiation include radiation therapy used to treat cancer and radiation exposure caused by atomic bombs.
- Family history of brain tumors. A small portion of brain tumors occurs in people with a family history of brain tumors or a family history of genetic syndromes that increase the risk of brain tumors.
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| Brain tumor patient Rodel Perez,and OFW |
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| Rodel Perez after his brain surgery |
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| 8 months after his operation, Perez is back to his work and up on his feet. |
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