WORLD BRAIN TUMOUR DAY- 8th JUNE

WORLD BRAIN TUMOUR DAY

Today is June 8 – World brain tumour day. Yes, today is when we completely emphasise what is “brain tumour” by creating awareness and educating people about it.

I know nobody in this world like to hear from their doctor that they have been diagnosed with a brain tumour. It’s completely devastating. But in this situation, you need to know that – you are not alone.

So on this day, It is everyone’s duty to address this situation and find a new way and decision to live with this. But an even greater challenge is to use this info to make important decisions about your method and course of treatment.

What Is Brain Tumour?

A brain tumour is diagnosed when a mass, collection or multiplication of abnormal cells or tissues are happening when they are not needed.

So how this makes sense is, all human beings are made of cells obviously. So our body produces new cells whenever they are required to replace damaged or old cells with new ones. This is also done to complete growth and development in children and infants. But at any particular part of the brain, where abnormal cells get produced and if these abnormal cells start collecting or multiply and form a mass- Leads to a brain tumour.

Generally, we can divide brain tumours into:

• Primary brain tumour- These are the tumours that start & tend to stay in the brain at that site of origin.

• Metastatic brain tumours- These are which begin as cancer elsewhere in the body and then metastasize or spread to the brain.

 

Primary Brain Tumours 

Primary tumours are any tumours that originate from the brain. They can originate from either the meninges, glands, nerve cells or brain cells. Mostly in adults, primary brain tumours are either gliomas or meningiomas.

What is Glioma?

Gliomas are an example of primary tumours that originate from the glial cells. These are the cells that support the brain cells' structure, allow the breakdown of dead neurons, and provide nutrition to the central nervous system. 

Some of the examples of Primary tumours are: 

• Astrocytic tumours:- astrocytomas. 
• Glioblastomas
• Pituitary tumours 
• Primary CNS lymphomas 
• Craniopharyngiomas
• Ependymomas 
• pineal gland tumours
• Oligodendroglial tumours

Metastatic tumours

These are types of tumours that originate elsewhere in the body, but then travel or metastasize to the brain to form brain tumours.

They include Lung cancer, skin cancer, breast cancer and others. 

Epidemiology of Brain tumours

Even though the incidence of brain tumours is rare in India, The current number of patient with brain tumours ranges from 5 to 10 person per 1lakh population is still increasing. 

In the U.S. an estimated 6-7 lakh people are living diagnosed with a primary brain tumour. And about 138,000 with malignant tumours and about 550,000 with a benign tumour.

Symptoms 

• Recurrent headaches
• Nausea
• Seizures
• Poor coordination of the body movement and thoughts
• Short term memory loss
• Vision problems
• Difficulty in speaking and to comprehend 
• Personality changes
• Aphasia
• Paresthesia 
• Hallucinations

Diagnosis of a brain tumour is quite complex and should be done by a neurosurgeon or neuro physician so to help plan further management in the initial stages of the disease.it involves taking certain scans, like- MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging), CT Scan ( Computerized tomography), Brain scan, X-ray of the skull, PET scan Biopsy or maybe even a lumbar puncture test is taken. 

Aetiology- Causes of Brain tumour 

Even though the causes of brain tumours are still under investigation,

• Genetic changes 
• Ionizing radiation 
• Hereditary 
• Electromagnetic fields (like cellular phones)
• Errors in fetal development 
• Infections
• Injury
• Immunosuppression

Treatment 

• Different varieties of treatment are available now including chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This may be used in combination or alone. 

• Craniotomy- It is a surgical procedure in which we create an opening into the skull. 

• Cranioplasty- Surgical procedure where we repair the cranial defect using artificial materials to replace lost bone

• Shunt procedure where we redirect the CSF from one area to another 

• Transsphenoidal Hypophysectomy

Chemotherapy 

• Temozolomide- given orally. 

• Nitrosoureas- Carmustine, Lomustine

Another drug also use is Injection Mannitol, This medication reduce Intracranial pressure (ICP) and causes brain relaxation by removing water from the brain and increase cerebral blood flow.

Radiation therapy:- damages DNA of rapidly dividing cells

• Interstitial radiation

• Radioactive Monoclonal antibiotics 

• Radiation sensitizing therapy 

• Stereotactic radiosurgery

Supportive care includes: 

• Corticosteroids 

• Anticonvulsant therapy