What is a brain tumor?
A brain tumor is the growth of abnormal cells in the brain or surrounding tissue. The brain is a complex organ that controls all body functions, and abnormal growth of this organ can cause a variety of symptoms and complications.
Some brain tumors that originate from the brain tissue itself are called primary brain tumors, while the spread of cancer to other parts of the body is called secondary brain tumors / metastatic brain tumors.
Brain tumors can be benign or malignant (cancerous), and can develop in different parts of the brain, making diagnosis and treatment challenging.
Brain tumor symptoms
Benign brain tumors tend to cause symptoms that develop slowly over months or years. Meanwhile, malignant brain tumors cause rapidly worsening symptoms.
Brain tumor symptoms vary depending on the size and location of the tumor, and can include:
- Headache
- Nausea or vomiting
- Vision or visual field problems in one or both eyes
- Weakness or numbness on one side of the body
- Balance disorders
- Difficulty speaking and understanding what other people say
- Memory disorders
- Personality change
- Seizures, especially if there is no history of previous seizures
- Hearing disorders
Headache in brain tumors
Headaches are one of the most common complaints a person experiences and are caused by various factors, one of which is a brain tumor. There are 9 danger signs (or red flags) of headaches that you should be aware of related to brain tumors, including:
- A new headache appears, feels more severe or changes from the usual pattern
- Recurring headaches
- New onset headaches in adults (especially over 50 years of age) or in children
- Severe headache in the morning
- Headaches are progressive , getting more and more painful over time
- Headaches that occur with activity, coughing, sneezing, or bending
- Headache with signs of new neurological changes, such as weakness or numbness in the arms or legs, memory problems, personality or behavioral disorders, blurred vision.
- Headache with projectile vomiting (vomiting without nausea)
These symptoms may also be caused by other medical conditions. If you experience any of the complaints and symptoms above, immediately consult a doctor to carry out an examination and
screen whether the complaint is related to a brain tumor or other health problems.
Causes and risk factors for brain tumors
The causes of brain tumors are not fully understood, but there are several risk factors associated with their development. These factors include:
Radiation exposure
Family history of brain tumors
History of tumors or cancer in other parts of the body
Some genetic conditions
If you have risk factors, early screening and examination play an important role. Although screening cannot prevent brain tumors from occurring, screening can really help find brain tumors when they are still small so that the chances of successful treatment are greater.
Diagnosis and examination of brain tumors
Mayapada Hospital Bandung provides various examinations for brain tumors, including:
- Neurological history and physical examination by a multispecialty team of doctors and consultants
- Head CT scan 256 slices
- MRI of the head 1.5 tesla
- Biopsy of the tumor to determine the type and degree of malignancy
Brain tumor treatment
Treatment options for brain tumors depend on several factors, including the size and location of the tumor, the type and grade of malignancy, the patient’s age, and overall health.
Surgery
The aim of surgery for brain tumors is to remove all or as many tumor cells as possible. This is because some brain tumors are attached and difficult to separate from the surrounding tissue, so they often cannot be removed completely.
Radiotherapy
Radiation therapy uses powerful energy beams to kill tumor cells. The energy beam can be adjusted to focus only on the area where the tumor is located, thereby reducing the possibility of damage to surrounding tissue.
Chemotherapy Chemotherapy
uses strong drugs to kill tumor cells, either in pill form or via intravenous injection.
Targeted therapy Targeted therapy uses special drugs such as chemotherapy, but specifically attacks certain cell signaling signals in tumor cells.
The role of technology and comprehensive treatment in treating brain tumors
Technology in the world of neurosurgery continues to develop to maximize patient safety and better treatment outcomes. Mayapada Hospital Bandung is also developing neurosurgical services including an intraoperative neuronavigation system and a sophisticated Kinevo 900 surgical microscope with an international standard robotic visualization system .
With the neuronavigation and robotic visualization systems, surgeons and their teams can perform minimally invasive and more accurate operations on deep and hard-to-reach areas of the brain. This technology is used to guide doctors in finding tumors so that it will reduce the risk of tissue damage and maximize the removal of tumor tissue.
If the tumor is in the bones of the skull base ( sella turcica skull base ), transsphenoidal surgery using an endoscope is a treatment option for that area. This procedure is carried out by inserting an endoscope through the nose or mouth, so that the wound caused after surgery is smaller and not visible from the outside. The advantages of surgery using this technique are that tissue damage is minimal, scars are not visible and recovery time is faster.
Apart from sophisticated equipment and doctors’ expertise in carrying out diagnosis and therapy, of course the collaboration of doctors from various specialized disciplines also plays a role. Brain tumor treatment at Mayapada Hospital Bandung is carried out comprehensively involving several specialties, including neurologists, neurosurgery specialists, internal medicine doctors, hematology oncology consultants, and medical rehabilitation specialist doctors to help with the recovery process. Sometimes patients and families also need assistance from a psychiatrist to stay calm and not become depressed.
Tahir Neuroscience Center Mayapada Hospital Bandung provides comprehensive services in treating brain tumors and other neurological cases, with the latest equipment and collaboration of multispecialty doctors, starting from early detection, diagnosis, therapy, to medical rehabilitation during the healing process.
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