What is Brain Tumor?
Brain tumors can either originate from within the brain (“primary brain tumors”). From cancer cells that have metastasized from other organs or tissues (“secondary brain tumors”). Primary brain tumors can be derived from the over twenty different cell types that make up the brain and its linings.

What are Primary Brain Tumor?
Primary tumors can be cancerous (malignant) or benign. These tumours start in the brain and do not spread. They rarely spread beyond the central nervous system. The tumor is still taking up space in the skull. They can cause serious complications and symptoms.

Primary Brain Tumor Types in Adults

- Gliomas
Tumors derived from astrocytes:
- Anaplastic astrocytoma (“grade III”)
- Glioblastoma multiforme
Tumors derived from oligodendrocytes:
- Oligodendrocytes
- Oligodendrogliomas
Tumors derived from ependymal cells:
- Ependymomas
- Anaplastic ependymomas
Meningiomas
- Consequences of intracranial hypertension.
- Dysfunction Irritation.

What are Secondary Brain Tumor?
- These tumours are often called metastatic tumors.
- They are the result of cancer cells originating from another part of the body.
- They are spread to the brain.
- Secondary brain tumors often indicate advanced stages of disease.
- Both cancerous primary and secondary tumors are life threatening.
- These types of tumors are usually very aggressive.
- Secondary tumors means a cancerous neoplasm that has developed in another organ elsewhere in the body
- These cancer cells have leaked from that primary tumor and then entered the lymphatic system and blood vessels.
- They then circulate through the bloodstream.
- They are then deposited in the brain.
- These cells continue growing and dividing.
- They become another invasive neoplasm of the primary cancer’s tissue.
- Secondary tumors of the brain are very common in the terminal phases of patients.

Other Types of Growth
1. Low-grade vs. high-grade:
- Low-grade tumors are slow-growing.
- High-grade tumors are fast-growing and aggressive.
- High-grade tumors can invade nearby tissue or spread elsewhere in the body.
- They are also more likely to recur after treatment.
- They are generally associated with a worse outlook.

2. Localized vs. Invasive:
- Localized tumor is confined to one area.
- It is generally easier to remove.
- It’s in an accessible part of the brain.
- An invasive tumor has spread to surrounding areas.
- It is more difficult or impossible to remove completely.

Signals and Causes
Signal Number 1:
- First headache complaint from person over 50 years old.
Possible Cause:
- Brain tumor, arteriïtis temporalis.

Signal Number 2:
- First migraine attack in person over 40 years old.
Possible Cause:
- Brain tumor.

Signal Number 3:
- Headache in person under 6 years old.
Possible Cause:
- Brain tumor, hydrocephalus.

Signal Number 4:
- Person over 50 years old with pain at temples.
Possible Cause:
- Arteriïtis temporalis

Signal Number 5:
- Pregnancy with unknown headache.
Possible Cause:
- Pre-eclampsia.

Signal Number 6:
- Increased headaches after trauma.
Possible Cause:
- Sub/Epidural hematoma.

Signal Number 7:
- Severe headaches and very high blood pressure.
Possible Cause:
- Malignant hypertension.

Signal Number 8:
- Acute severe headache.
Possible Cause:
- Meningitis, CVA (Cerebrovascular accident or stroke), subarachnoidal hemorrhage.

Signal Number 9:
- Headache and fever (with reduced consciousness).
Possible Cause:
- Meningitis.

Signal Number 10:
- Stiffness of the neck/neurological dysfunction.
Possible Cause:
- Meningitis, brain tumor.

Signal Number 11:
- Headache with signs of elevated intracranial pressure.
Possible Cause:
- Brain tumor.

Signal Number 12:
- Focal neurological dysfunction.
Possible Cause:
- Brain tumor.

Signal Number 13:
- Early morning vomiting or vomiting unrelated to headache or other illness.
Possible Cause:
- Brain tumor.

Signal Number 14:
- Behavioral changes or rapid decline in school results.
Possible Cause:
- Brain tumor.

Causes
A neoplasm can be caused by:
- an abnormal proliferation of tissues.
- genetic mutations.
- encapsulated glandular swellings (thyroid, adrenal gland, and pancreas).
- encapsulated hematomas.
- encapsulated necrotic tissue (from an insect bite, foreign body, or other noxious mechanism).
- keloids.
- granulomas (discrete overgrowths of scar tissue).

Enlargements of normal structures like:
- ureters,
- blood vessels,
- intrahepatic
- extrahepatic biliary ducts
- pulmonary inclusions
- gastrointestinal duplications

Tumours can be primary and secondary.

Primary Tumors

- Primary tumors can be cancerous (malignant) or benign.
- These tumours start in the brian and do not spread.
- They rarely spread beyond the central nervous system.
- The tumor is still taking up space in the skull.
- They can cause serious complications and symptoms.

Benign Brain Tumors
- These are tumors that remain in the part of the brain in which they started.
- They don’t spread into and destroy other areas of the brain.
- They do not spread to other parts of the body.
- A benign tumour can be removed successfully.
- This shall cause no more problem once removed.
- Some benign tumours will regrow slowly.
- These tumours are treated with radiotherapy or further surgery may be needed.

Malignant Primary Brain Tumors
- These are most likely to cause problems by spreading into the normal brain tissue.
- This causes pressure and damage to the surrounding areas of the brain.
- These tumors rarely spread outside the brain to other parts of the body.

Secondary Tumors

- These tumors are often called metastatic tumors.
- They are the result of cancer cells originating from another part of the body.
- They are spread to the brain.
- Secondary brain tumors often indicate advanced stages of disease.
- Both cancerous primary and secondary tumors are life threatening.
- These types of tumors are usually very aggressive.
- Secondary tumors means a cancerous neoplasm that has developed in another organ elsewhere in the body.
- These cancer cells have leaked from that primary tumor and then entered the lymphatic system and blood vessels.
- They then circulate through the bloodstream.
- They are then deposited in the brain.
- These cells continue growing and dividing.
- They become another invasive neoplasm of the primary cancer’s tissue.
- Secondary tumors of the brain are very common in the terminal phases of patients.

The most common types of cancers that bring about secondary tumors of the brain are:
- lung cancer
- breast cancer
- malignant melanoma
- kidney cancer
- colon cancer
- cervical cancer

Signs and Symptoms of secondary tumors:
- In lymph nodes, a common symptom is lymphadenopathy.
- Lungs: cough, hemoptysis and dyspnea (shortness of breath).
- Liver: hepatomegaly (enlarged liver) and jaundice.
- Bones: bone pain, fracture of affected bones.
- Brain: neurological symptoms such as headaches, seizures, and vertigo.
Secondary tumor is occurred by four routes:
- Transcoelomic
- Lymphatic spread
- Haematogenous spread
- Transplantation or implantation

A simple Breast Self Examination (BSE) can be done to detect any chances of breast problems like lumps or change in appearance. The breast self examination should be done about a week after your periods end. Breast self-exam should be performed on the same day each month.

Breast self examination involves the following steps :
- Use left hand for right breast and right hand for left breast.
- Remove all your clothes and stand in front of mirror.
- Observe the size, shape, color, symmetry and texture of your breasts.
- Observe for any kind of discharge or puckering of the nipple.
- Observe for sores or scaly skin.
- Examine the breasts in four different postures.
- First, both arms folded down.
- Second, both arms over the head and check for any swelling or puckering of the skin.
- Third, both arms on your hips and press firmly to flex your chest muscles.
- Fourth, bent forward to examine each breast for change in outline or dimpling of the skin.
- Lie down, check the entire right breast area with your left hand. Make small circles and follow an up and down pattern with light, medium and firm pressure over the area of the breast.
- Feel the breast surface with second, third and fourth fingers of the hand making circular motions.
- Also, squeeze the nipple for any kind of discharge.
- Repeat the same steps with left breast but with right hand.
- During shower, examine the breast tissue in the underarms.
- Feel for lumps under and along the top of the collar bone.

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Several types of blight can be affiliated with these syndromes, so it’s important to analysis your ancestors medical history not just for colon blight and polyps, but as well for any added blazon of cancer. While blight in first-degree ancestors is a matter of concern, any history of blight in added abroad ancestors is as well important. This includes aunts, uncles, grandparents, nieces, nephews, and cousins. They may account from a biogenetic counselling to analyze their ancestors medical timberline to see how acceptable it is that they accept an ancestors blight affection and an altercation about whether or not gene testing is appropriate for them.

There are lot of accepted affiliated syndromes affiliated with colorectal cancers are familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and ancestral non-polyposis colorectal blight (HNPCC).

Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP): FAP is acquired by changes (mutations) in the APC gene that a human being inherits from his or her parents. About 1% of all colorectal cancers are due to FAP.
People with FAP advance hundreds of polyps in their colon and rectum, usually in their adolescence or aboriginal adulthood. By age 40, humans with this ataxia will develop blight if antitoxin anaplasty (removing the colon) is not done.
Gardner affection is a blazon of FAP that as well has amiable (non-cancerous) tumors of the skin, bendable affiliation tissue, and bones.

Hereditary non-polyposis colon blight (HNPCC): HNPCC, as well accepted as Lynch syndrome, accounts for about 3% to 5% of all colorectal cancers. HNPCC can be acquired by affiliated changes in an amount of altered genes that commonly advice adjustment DNA damage.

The cancers in this affection advance if humans are almost young, although not as adolescent as in FAP. Humans with HNPCC may as well accept polyps, but they alone accept a few, not hundreds as in FAP. The lifetime accident of colorectal blight in humans with this action may be as top as 80%.

Women with this action accept an actual top accident of developing blight of the endometrial (lining of the uterus). Other cancers affiliated with HNPCC cover blight of the ovary, stomach, baby bowel, pancreas, kidney, brain, ureters (tubes that backpack urine from the kidneys to the bladder), and acerbity duct.

Turcot syndrome:
This is an attenuate affiliated action in which humans are at added accident of adenomatous polyps and colorectal cancer, as able-bodied as academician tumors. There are in fact 2 types of Turcot syndrome:
- One can be acquired by gene changes agnate to those apparent in FAP, in which cases the academician tumors are medulloblastomas.
- The added can as well be acquired by gene changes agnate to those apparent in HNPCC, in which cases the academician tumors are glioblastomas.

Peutz-Jeghers syndrome:
Humans with this attenuate affiliated action tend to accept freckles about the aperture and an appropriate blazon of polyp in their digestive tracts (called hamartomas). They are at abundantly added accident for colorectal cancer, as able-bodied as several added cancers, which usually arise at a adolescent than accustomed age. This affection is acquired by mutations in the gene STK1.

MUTYH-associated polyposis:
Humans with this affection advance colon polyps which will become annihilative if the colon is not removed. They as well accept an added accident of cancers of the baby civil skin, ovary, and bladder. This affection is acquired by mutations in the gene MUTYH.

Symptoms of Colorectal cancer:
Cancer of the colon and rectum can display itself in several ways. If you accept any of these symptoms, seek actual medical help.
- You may apprehension bleeding from your rectum or claret alloyed with your stool.
- People frequently aspect all abdominal bleeding to hemorrhoids, appropriately preventing aboriginal analysis attributable to abridgement of affair over “bleeding hemorrhoids.”
- Abdominal bleeding may be hidden and abiding and may appear up as an adamant absence anemia.
- It may be associated with fatigue and anemic skin.
- It usually, but not always, can be detected through a begrimed abstruse (hidden) claret test, in which samples of stool are submitted to a lab for apprehension of blood.
- If the bump gets ample enough, it may absolutely or partially block your colon. You may apprehension the afterward affection of bowel obstruction:
- Abdominal pain: This is attenuate in colon cancer. One cause is disturbing (perforation) of the bowel. Leaking of bowel capacity into the abdomen can cause deepening (peritonitis) and infection.
- Unexplained, assiduous abhorrence or vomiting.
- Unexplained weight loss.
- Change in abundance or appearance of stool (bowel movements).
- Small-caliber (narrow) or ribbon-like stools.
- Sensation of abridged aborticide afterwards a bowel movement.
- Abdominal pain: Pain rarely occurs with colon blight and usually indicates a beefy bump in the rectum that may access surrounding tissue.
Studies advance that the boilerplate continuance of affection (from access to diagnosis) is 14 weeks. There is no affiliation amid all-embracing continuance of affection and the date of your tumor.

Serious condition that has the ability to announce a life-threatening condition:
As colorectal blight grows, the bank of the colon gets thicker and hardens, and the growing bump can block the colon, causing belly obstruction or breach of the belly bank and a life-threatening infection alleged peritonitis. Seek actual medical absorption (call 911) if you, or anyone you are with, accept any of these symptoms:
- Change in akin of activity or alertness, such as casual out or unresponsiveness.
- Heavy belly bleeding, or bloody, tremendous or abide stool.
- High agitation (higher than 101 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Severe belly pain.

If beef accumulate adding if new beef are not needed, an accumulation of tissue forms. This accumulation of added tissue alleged an advance or tumor can be amiable or malignant.

Benign tumors are not cancer. They can usually be removed and, in a lot of cases, they do not appear back. A lot of important, beef from amiable tumors do not advance to added locations of the body. Amiable tumors are rarely blackmail to life.

Malignant tumors are cancer. Blight beef can access and accident tissues and organs abreast the tumor. Also, blight beef can breach abroad from a cancerous bump and access the bloodstream or aqueous system. This is how blight spreads from the aboriginal (primary) bump to anatomy new tumors in added locations of the body. The advance of blight is alleged metastasis.

When blight spreads to addition allotment of the body, the new bump has the aforementioned affectionate of aberrant beef and the aforementioned name as the primary tumor. For example, if colon blight spreads to the liver, the blight beef in the alarmist are colon blight cells. The ache is metastatic colon blight (it is not alarmist cancer).

What is blight of the colon and rectum?
The colon is the allotment of the digestive arrangement area where the decay actual is stored. The rectum is the end of the colon adjoining to the anus. Together, they anatomy a long, able-bodied tube alleged the ample civil (also accepted as the ample bowel).

Tumors of the colon and rectum are growths arising from the close bank of the ample intestine. Amiable tumors of the ample civil are alleged polyps. Annihilate tumors of the ample civil are alleged cancers. Amiable polyps do not access adjoining tissue or advance to added locations of the body. Amiable polyps can be calmly removed during colonoscopy and are not life-threatening. If amiable polyps are not removed from the ample intestine, they can become cancerous over time.

Most of the cancers of the ample civil are believed to develop from polyps. Blight of the colon and rectum (also referred to as colorectal cancer) can access and accident adjoining tissues and organs. Blight beef can as well breach abroad and advance to added locations of the physique (such as alarmist and lung) area new tumors form. The advance of colon blight to abroad organs is alleged alteration of the colon cancer. Once alteration has occurred in colorectal cancer, a complete cure of the blight is unlikely.

Globally, blight of the colon and rectum is the third arch that could cause blight in males and the fourth arch could cause blight in females. The abundance of colorectal blight varies about the world. It is accepted in the Western apple and is attenuate in Asia and Africa.

Most colorectal cancers should be preventable, through added surveillance, bigger lifestyle, and, probably, the use of comestible chemo preventative agents.

TREATMENT FOR COLON CANCER

The main focus is removing the primary tumour that caused the cancer and preventing the spread of malignant cells further into the body. Depending on the stage, there are three primary treatment options are: surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.
SURGERY
- Surgery involves removing the affected part and conjoining the healthy parts of the colon.
- How much of your colon has to be removed depends on the location and particular characteristics of your tumor.
- The surgeon can recommend colectomy if your colon cancer has grown into or through your colon in which colon is removed along with a margin of normal tissue on either side of the cancer. Nearby lymph nodes are usually also removed and tested for cancer.

CHEMOTHERAPY
- Chemotherapy can be used to destroy cancer cells after surgery, to control tumor growth or to relieve symptoms of colon cancer.
- It uses drugs to destroy cancer cells.

RADIATION THERAPY
- It uses powerful energy sources, such as X-rays, to kill any cancer cells that might remain after surgery.
- It helps to shrink large tumors before an operation so that they can be removed more easily.
- It can also be used to relieve symptoms of colon cancer and rectal cancer.

SYMPTOMS OF COLON CANCER

Symptoms in early stages of cancer are difficult to find. Early symptoms found are:
- Bleeding in the back passage.
- Difficulty in bowel movements.
- Constipation.
- Diarrhea: If it continues for more than 3 weeks, it can be a sign of colon cancer.
- Bowel cancer.
- Loss of appetite
- Loss of weight.

The most common symptom of colon cancer is difficulty in bowel movement especially urgency of emptying the bowel more frequently, severe abdominal pain, anemia, weakness and tiredness. If the cancerous growth starts blocking the large intestine, the patient can experience recurring waves of pain in the lower abdomen.

CAUSES OF COLON CANCER

Nothing specific cause has been observed. Couple of causes can be:
- Healthy cells in colon become altered, cells continue dividing even when new cells aren’t needed. This growth of cells cause precancerous cells to form in the lining of your intestine.
- Inherited gene mutations don’t make cancer inevitable, but they can increase an individual’s risk of cancer significantly.

RISK FACTORS OF COLON CANCER

- African American race.
- Old age.
- Personal history of colorectal cancer.
- Family history.
- Low-fiber, high-fat diet.
- Obesity, Smoking, Diabetic, Alcohol and a sedentary lifestyle.

Blood tests: Most doctors will ask you to get blood tests done to check the circulation of hormones in the body. Excessive production of certain hormones like cortisol, estrogen, aldosterone, testosterone are characteristic to the cancer and therefore blood tests serve as a good starting point.

However both malignant and benign tumors cause the over production of hormones and are not indicators of whether the tumor is malignant or benign. Therefore the tests are non conclusive and would need to be complimented with other tests to check the tumors
There are four X-Ray tests that are primarily used for the detection of a tumor in the adrenal gland:

Ultrasound: The ultrasound is most commonly used to examine one’s adrenal gland and kidneys. The ultrasound test however may not be as accurate as the CT Scan and therefore is not preferred as the best method to detect tumors. The test however can be used to detect any kind of adrenal tumor.

CT Scan: The CT Scan also known as the CAT Scan is another common way of examining whether a patient is suffering from adrenal cancer. It can be used to detect any type of adrenal tumor and is painless. The procedure is not long and only takes about 30 minutes. It is one of the most accurate ways of examining the adrenal glands for tumors. The pictures generated help in sizing up the tumors well that help in planning the treatments that should be taken up.
The scan identifies the following:
Left adrenal gland
Left Kidney
Pancreas
Spleen outline

MRI Scan: The MRI Scan is similar to the CAT Scan. It is also known as the MR Scan or the NMR Scan. The MRI scan takes about an hour to complete and deploys magnetic fields to produce pictures unlike x-ray like images that the CAT scan generates or sound waves that you get from an ultra sound.
Pheochromocytomas light up on an MRI Scan making it one of the most accurate ways of detecting adrenal tumors of any type.

MIBG Scan: The MIBG scan is used to detect the location and presence of adrenal pheochromocytomas. The test is ineffective in detecting other types of adrenal tumors.

Most doctors will utilize the above mentioned tests to examine your body for adrenal tumors. However it is essential that you seek the guidance of an expert when it comes to adrenal gland cancer as you need to ensure that the proper treatment is adhered to after the tumor is detected be it malignant or benign.
When you consult a doctor who is recognized you can be sure that you will receive the best treatment. Over and above medication and surgeries you need to pay attention to your diet and make efforts to stay healthy by indulging in physical exercise. The medication can lead you to feeling tired and lethargic and therefore you should try and fight the illness itself with your mind and try and keep a brave front. If you are willing to fight the disease it can be defeated.