An abnormal growth of cells in the brain is called a brain tumor. Brain tumors may be malignant (cancerous) or benign (non-cancerous).
Suspicions of a brain tumor may first arise from abnormal behavior or other symptoms. Symptoms are typically investigated with a series of tests aimed at making a diagnosis. If a brain tumor is the diagnosis, further information about the cancer cells is necessary to determine the best possible approach to treatment. There are many types of brain tumors that differ based on which type of cells make up the tumor. Also, determining the extent of the cancer helps the doctor to understand the likelihood that the tumor will spread into other brain tissues, a characteristic which may also be referred to as the aggressiveness of the cancer.
The following is an overview of brain cancers, including information on the following topics:
- Symptoms of Brain Cancer
- Tests for Diagnosing Brain Cancer
- The Diagnosis: Brain Tumor Malignancy, Type, and Grade
- Benign or Malignant?
- Tumor Grade
- Types of Brain Tumors
Introduction to Treatments for Brain Cancer
- Surgery
- Radiation Therapy
- Chemotherapy
Radiation: Radiation therapy may be used alone or in combination with surgery and/or chemotherapy in the treatment of primary or metastatic brain tumors. The three primary ways that radiation therapy is administered in the treatment of brain tumors are with:
- A machine that directs radioactive beams from outside the body, called external beam radiation (EBRT),
- A computer and image guided technique that directs radiation only at the tumor, called stereotactic radiosurgery, or
- A radioactive implant that is placed in or near the tumor, called brachytherapy.
EBRT is the conventional technique for administering radiation therapy for brain tumors, but stereotactic radiosurgery has also become a standard treatment. The most recent advance in the radiation treatment of brain tumors is the brachytherapy technique called GliaSite radiotherapy system, which involves placing a balloon in or near the tumor during surgery and then passing a radioactive material into the balloon for treatment.
To learn more, go to 
Radiation Therapy for Brain Tumors .
Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is any treatment involving the use of toxic drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy is different from surgery or radiation therapy in that the cancer-fighting drugs circulate in the blood to parts of the body where the cancer may have spread and can kill or eliminate cancers cells at sites great distances from the original cancer. As a result, chemotherapy is considered a systemic treatment.
Treating brain tumors with chemotherapy is more complicated than treating tumors elsewhere in the body because of a natural defense system called the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain from foreign substances. The blood-brain barrier prevents foreign substances, such as drugs, from passing from the blood into brain tissues. For a drug to be effective in treating brain tumors, a sufficient quantity must either pass through the blood-brain barrier or be administered in a way that bypasses it altogether. Furthermore, not all brain tumors are sensitive to or respond to chemotherapy, even if the drug does penetrates the blood-brain barrier. Actively dividing cells are the most vulnerable to chemotherapy. Most tumor cells and some normal cells fall into that category.
To learn more about chemotherapy treatment for brain tumors, go to the information centers on specific brain tumor types.
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