Brain Tumor

Signs & symptoms

The symptoms of brain tumors depend on their size and location in the brain. Symptoms often are caused by damage to vital tissue and pressure on the brain as the tumor grows within the limited space in the skull. 它们可能是由肿瘤周围的肿胀和液体积聚引起的，这种情况称为水肿. Symptoms also may be due to hydrocephalus, which occurs when the tumor blocks the flow of cerebrospinal fluid and causes a build-up in the ventricles.

If a brain tumor grows very slowly, its symptoms may not appear for some time. The most frequent symptoms of brain tumors include:

• Headaches that tend to be worse in the morning and ease during the day
• Seizures or convulsions
• Nausea or vomiting
• Weakness or loss of feeling in the arms or legs
• Stumbling or lack of coordination in walking
• Abnormal eye movements or changes in vision
• Drowsiness
• Changes in personality or memory
• Changes in speech

These symptoms may be caused by brain tumors or by other problems. Diagnostic tests can be performed to determine if the cause of your symptoms is a brain tumor and if it is a primary or secondary one.

Diagnosis

To find the cause of your symptoms, your doctor will ask about your personal and family medical history and perform a complete physical examination. 除了检查一般的健康迹象外，你的十大赌博平台排行榜还会进行神经系统检查. 这包括检查警觉性、肌肉力量、协调性、反射和对疼痛的反应. Your doctor also examines the eyes to look for swelling caused by a tumor pressing on the nerve that connects the eye and the brain.

Depending on the results of the physical and neurologic examinations, your doctor may request one or both of the following:

• Computerized tomography (CT) Scan. Computerized tomography (CT) 计算机轴向断层扫描(CAT)是一系列大脑的详细图像, created by a computer linked to an X-ray machine. In some cases, a special dye is injected into a vein before the scan. The dye helps to show differences in the tissues of the brain.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides pictures of the brain, using a powerful magnet linked to a computer. MRI is especially useful in diagnosing brain tumors because it can "see" through the bones of the skull to the tissue underneath. A special dye may be used to enhance the likelihood of detecting a brain tumor.

The doctor may also request other tests such as:

• Angiogram or arteriogram. These tests are a series of X-rays taken after a special dye is injected into an artery, usually in the area where the abdomen joins the top of the leg. 这种在大脑血管中流动的染料可以在x射线上看到. These X-rays can show the tumor and connecting blood vessels.
• Brain scan. 脑部扫描显示出大脑中异常生长的区域，并将其记录在特殊的胶片上. A small amount of a radioactive material is injected into a vein. This dye is absorbed by the tumor and the growth shows up on the film. The radiation leaves the body within six hours and is not dangerous.
• Functional imaging. This test utilizes MRI or magnetic source imaging to identify functional pathways in the brain (motor, visual, language) and alerts the surgeon to potential injury to these pathways during surgery before damage could occur.
• Myelogram. A myelogram, sometimes called a lumbosacral spine X-ray, is an X-ray or computerized tomography (CT) scan of the spine. A special dye is injected into the cerebrospinal fluid in the spine and the patient is tilted to allow the dye to mix with the fluid. This test may be done when the doctor suspects a tumor in the spinal cord.
• MR spectroscopy. This is a modified MRI scan that shows metabolic activity within a brain tumor. This has largely replaced positron emission tomography (PET) scanning due to its superior resolution and accuracy.

Treatments

Treatment for brain tumors depends on a number of factors including the type, location and size of the tumor as well as the patient's age and general health. Treatment methods and schedules differ for children and adults.

Brain tumors are treated with surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Our doctors also are studying a vaccine for treating a recurrent cancer of the central nervous system that occurs primarily in the brain, known as glioma.

Depending on your needs, several methods may be used. Our team includes neurosurgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, nurses, a dietitian and a social worker, who work together to provide the best possible care.

在治疗开始之前，大多数患者都服用类固醇，这是一种缓解肿胀或水肿的药物. Your may receive anticonvulsant medicine to prevent or control seizures.

If hydrocephalus is present, you may need a shunt to drain cerebrospinal fluid. A shunt is a long, thin tube placed in a ventricle of the brain and then threaded under the skin to another part of the body, usually the abdomen. It works like a drainpipe. Excess fluid is carried away from the brain and is absorbed in the abdomen. In some cases, the fluid is drained into the heart.

Surgery

Surgery is the usual treatment for most brain tumors. To remove a brain tumor, a neurosurgeon makes an opening in the skull. This operation is called a craniotomy. Whenever possible, the surgeon attempts to remove the entire tumor. If the tumor cannot be completely removed without damaging vital brain tissue, your doctor may remove as much of the tumor as possible. Partial removal helps to relieve symptoms by reducing pressure on the brain and reduces the amount of tumor to be treated by radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

Some tumors cannot be removed. In such cases, your doctor may do only a biopsy. A small piece of the tumor is removed so that a pathologist can examine it under a microscope to determine the type of cells it contains. This helps your doctor decide which treatment to use.

Sometimes, a biopsy is done with a needle. Doctors use a special head frame (like a halo) and CT scans or MRI to pinpoint the exact location of the tumor. 外科十大赌博平台排行榜在颅骨上开一个小洞，然后用针指向肿瘤. Using this technique to do a biopsy or for treatment is called stereotaxis.

Other advanced techniques during surgery include brain mapping to find functional pathways near tumors, endoscopy to perform biopsies and open spinal fluid pathways through a small scope and advanced frameless stereotaxic computer assisted tumor resections. Intraoperative MRI also is available to help maximize tumor removal.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy, also called radiotherapy, 使用高能射线是为了破坏癌细胞并阻止它们生长吗. It is often used to destroy tumor tissue that cannot be removed with surgery or to kill cancer cells that may remain after surgery. Radiation therapy also is used when surgery is not possible.

Radiation therapy may be given in two ways. External radiation comes from a large machine. 一般来说，外部放射治疗每周进行5天，持续数周. The treatment schedule depends on the type and size of the tumor and your age. Giving the total dose of radiation over an extended period helps to protect healthy tissue in the area of the tumor.

外部辐射可能只针对肿瘤、周围组织或整个大脑. Sometimes the radiation is also directed to the spinal cord. When the whole brain is treated, the patient often receives an extra dose of radiation to the area of the tumor. This boost can come from external radiation or from an implant.

Radiation also can come from radioactive material placed directly in the tumor, or implant radiation therapy. 根据使用的材料，植入物可能会在大脑中停留很短的时间，也可能是永久的. Implants lose a little radioactivity each day. 病人在十大赌博平台排行榜里呆几天，这段时间是辐射最活跃的时候.

The Gamma Knife, or stereotactic radiosurgery, is another way to treat brain tumors. The Gamma Knife isn't actually a knife, but a radiation therapy technique that delivers a single, finely focused, high dose of radiation precisely to its target. Treatment is given in just one session. High-energy rays are aimed at the tumor from many angles. 通过这种方式，高剂量的辐射到达肿瘤而不损害其他脑组织.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. The doctor may use just one drug or a combination, usually giving the drugs orally or by injection into a blood vessel or muscle. 鞘内化疗包括向脑脊液中注射药物.

Chemotherapy is usually given in cycles. 一个治疗期之后是一个恢复期，然后是另一个治疗期，以此类推. Patients often don't need to stay in the hospital for treatment and most drugs can be given in the doctor's office or clinic. However, depending on the drugs used, the way they are given and the patient's general health, a short hospital stay may be necessary.

Advances in chemotherapy include direct placement into the tumor cavity using a new technique called convection enhanced delivery.