What Is A Brain Tumor?
Brain tumors constitute an important disease group of neurosurgery. In general, we can classify brain tumors as malignant and benign. Non-cancerous tumors are called "benign" (innocent). They do not jump to other organs of the body and rarely threaten life. They are usually surgically removed and do not recur.

Cancer cells are called “malignant" (anaplastic). They destroy the environment by progressing to healthy tissues and organs. At the same time, they spread through the bloodstream and lymphatic system, forming new tumors in other parts of the body (metastasis).

What Are The Causes of Brain Tumors and Who Has Them?

The cause of brain tumors is unknown. Brain tumors can occur at any age, but are more common in two age groups. It is most common in the 3-12 age group and the 40-70 age group. Risk factors leading to brain tumors include working in the treatment-tyre-dye industry, virus infections and heredity.

In some families, brain tumors can be seen in different members of the family. In general, no clear risk factor was found in patients with brain tumors. This may be because there are many factors at play.

A brain tumor is formed when abnormal cells in the brain grow and become massive. Brain tumors classified as primary or secondary are tumors that occur in the brain or, more commonly, start in another organ and metastasize to the brain.

This condition, which is common in men and the white race, is more common in people over the age of 60 and children under the age of 8, according to statistics. Signs and symptoms of brain tumors can start and disappear, making diagnosis difficult.

What Are The Symptoms of Brain Tumors?

Headache (especially in the morning)
Vomiting (gushing)
Sara-style fainting spells
Symptoms of paralysis in some parts of the body inadvanced periods (depending on where it is located in the brain)
Personality disorders, impairment in some abilities (such as calculating, writing)

What Is The Classification of Brain Tumors?

Malign Tümörler


A-Glial Tümörler: Beynin en sık görülen tümörleridir. They do most of the brain cancers. It contains cells with uncontrolled proliferation.
They grow rapidly and extend into the healthy tissue around them, and in rare cases can spread to the spinal cord or even to other organs of the body. Its staging is done in four groups.
Stage I and Stage II are called "low stage", while Stage III (anaplastic astrocytoma) and Stage IV (glioblastoma multiforme) are considered "high stage". Some other tumors in this group are ependymoma, medulloblastoma, oligodendroglioma. Survival periods are related with pathology staging, radiotherapy, whether chemotherapy is applied or not, and age.

The survival time is long in low-grade glial tumors. Low-stage tumors can turn into high-stage tumors. For high-grade gliomas, the average chance of survival is much shorter.
Metastaticbrain tumors: Tumors that come as a result of a tumor spreading to the brain elsewhere in the body. They mostly originate from the lung, breast, large intestine, stomach, skin or prostate. However, sometimes the organ from which it has originated may not be detected.

Brain metastases are seen in 20-40% of patients diagnosed in oncology clinics and hospitalized for treatment. This rate constitutes 10% of all brain tumors. If possible, biopsy with stereotaxic surgery, which can be performed with local anesthesia first, facilitates the choice of treatment.
Treatment options inmalignant brain tumors are surgical intervention, biopsy, radiotherapy, drug therapy and radiosurgery. Response to treatment is related to factors such as the focus of the tumor, the number of organs it has spread, the number of metastatic lesions, the age of the patient and the presence of additional diseases. Therefore, survival times are different.

Benign Tumours

These are tumors that usually develop inside the skull but outside the brain tissue. Meningiomas, pituitary adenomas, craniopharyngiomas, dermoid and epidermoid tumors, hemangioblastoma, colloid cyst, subependymal giant cell astrocytoma and neurinomas are the most common lesions of this group. Meningiomas constitute a significant part of this group. Unlike benign tumors in other organs, benign brain tumors can sometimes cause life-threatening conditions. Some (such as meningiomas) may develop into malignant tumors, although rare. Since they do not usually spread to the surrounding brain tissue, they have a high chance of being completely removed surgically. However, they may reappear, albeit to a small extent. It is known that even