Brain tumor

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A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of cells within the brain or inside the skull, which can be cancerous or non-cancerous (benign).

It is defined as any intracranial tumor created by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division, normally either in the brain itself (neurons, glial cells (astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, ependymal cells), lymphatic tissue, blood vessels), in the cranial nerves (myelin-producing Schwann cells), in the brain envelopes (meninges), skull, pituitary and pineal gland, or spread from cancers primarily located in other organs (metastatic tumors).

Primary (true) brain tumors are commonly located in the posterior cranial fossa in children and in the anterior two-thirds of the cerebral hemispheres in adults, although they can affect any part of the brain.

In the United States in the year 2005, it was estimated there were 43,800 new cases of brain tumors (Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States, Primary Brain Tumors in the United States, Statistical Report, 2005–2006), which accounted for 1.4 percent of all cancers, 2.4 percent of all cancer deaths, and 20–25 percent of pediatric cancers. Ultimately, it is estimated there are 13,000 deaths per year in the United States alone as a result of brain tumors.

For more information about Brain tumor, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with brain tumors

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Funeral industry workers exposed to formaldehyde face higher risk of leukemia

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 20, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Long durations of exposure to formaldehyde used for embalming in the funeral industry were associated with an increased risk of death from myeloid leukemia, according to a new study published online November 20 in the Journal of ...


Stem cells alleviate tumor treatment side effects

Stem cells alleviate tumor treatment side effects

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Human embryonic stem cells could help people with learning and memory deficits after radiation treatment for brain tumors, suggests a new UC Irvine study.


Study identifies new way to biopsy brain tumors in real time

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A new miniature, hand-held microscope may allow more precise removal of brain tumors and an easier recognition of tumor locations during surgery.


St. Jude and UF Proton Therapy Institute to begin proton therapy clinical trial

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute have formed a collaboration to provide proton therapy for St. Jude patients. The announcement follows the approval of the first ...


Less brain swelling occurs with multiple sessions of SRS for common brain tumor

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Treating a common brain tumor with multiple sessions of radiation appears to result in less brain swelling than treating the tumor once with a high dose of radiation, say researchers from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer ...


Gamma knife treatment for glioblastomas shows promising results

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers from University Hospitals Case Medical Center report promising results from a cutting-edge research study that treated the aggressive brain tumors glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) using a novel type of imaging called ...


A woman dials a cell phone in her car

WHO study suggests link between cell phones and tumors

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Oct 27, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (23) | comments 17

(PhysOrg.com) -- Preliminary results of an International investigation by the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest there may be a "significantly increased risk" of some types of brain tumors after use of ...


Bias affects cell phone cancer risk findings

Bias affects cell phone cancer risk findings

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Oct 15, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (10) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of South Korean and American researchers has found studies of possible links between cell phones and brain tumors and other cancers vary in quality, and those suggesting there is little ...


Unequal access: Hispanic children rarely get top-notch care for brain tumors

Medicine & Health / Other

created Oct 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Hispanic children diagnosed with brain tumors get high-quality treatment at hospitals that specialize in neurosurgery far less often than other children with the same condition, potentially compromising their immediate prognosis ...


Stereotactic radiosurgery preferred method of treating cancer patients with brain metastases

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Oct 06, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Cancer patients who receive stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) for the treatment of metastatic brain tumors have more than twice the risk of developing learning and memory problems than ...


Goose bumps, laughter and butterflies

Goose bumps, laughter and butterflies

Medicine & Health / Other

created Sep 14, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 1

The human body is as mysterious as it is magnificent. For every essential function like thought or a heartbeat, the body exhibits quirky behaviors that seem to defy explanation. Like goose bumps. Or hiccups. ...


Anticancer compound found in American mayapple

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Sep 04, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0

A common weed called American mayapple may soon offer an alternative to an Asian cousin that's been harvested almost to extinction because of its anti-cancer properties. The near-extinct Asian plant, Podophyllyum emodi, produc ...


Why don't brain tumors respond to medication?

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Sep 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Malignant brain tumors often fail to respond to promising new medication. Researchers in Heidelberg have discovered a mechanism and a tumor marker for the development of this resistance. A "death receptor" can possibly provide ...


Kennedy's cancer puts focus on quality of life

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Aug 26, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(AP) -- He lived 15 months with an incurable brain tumor, a little longer than usual for a patient in his late 70s. Perhaps equally important is that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy lived those months well - able to work almost to ...


Researchers identify key factor that stimulates brain cancer cells to spread

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Aug 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that the activity of a protein in brain cells helps stimulate the spread of an aggressive brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). In a move toward ...