Brain tumor facts for kids

A brain tumor is a growth of cells that forms inside the brain. These growths can be either benign (which means they are not cancer and usually don't spread) or malignant (which means they are cancer and can grow quickly). Brain tumors can affect how the brain works, leading to different symptoms depending on where they are located.

Types of Brain Tumors

There are many different types of brain tumors. Doctors classify them based on the kind of cells they start from and how fast they grow. Some common types include:

• astrocytoma
• glioblastoma multiforme
• oligodendroglioma
• ependymoma
• primary CNS lymphoma
• meningioma (These tumors usually start in the meninges, which are the protective layers around the brain and spinal cord.)

How Brain Tumors are Treated

The way a brain tumor is treated depends on several things. These include the type of tumor, its size, where it is located, and the person's overall health.

Surgery

Often, the first step in treating a brain tumor is surgery. Doctors try to remove as much of the tumor as safely possible. For some tumors, like many meningiomas, surgery might be the only treatment needed if the tumor is completely removed.

Radiation Therapy

For tumors that are harder to remove completely, or for malignant (cancerous) tumors, doctors might use radiation therapy. This treatment uses high-energy rays to kill tumor cells or stop them from growing. It's also called radiotherapy.

Medication

Sometimes, special medications are used to treat brain tumors. For example, a medicine called Temozolomide (also known as Temodar) is often used for certain types of brain tumors called gliomas, including Glioblastoma multiforme. These medications can help slow down the tumor's growth or shrink it.

Malignant tumors, like anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma multiforme, usually need a combination of these treatments because they are more aggressive.

Images for kids

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  The main areas of the brain and Limbic system

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  The meninges lie between the skull and brain matter. Tumors originating from the meninges are meningiomas.

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  A posterior fossa tumor leading to mass effect and midline shift

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  CT scan of a brain tumor, with its diameters marked as an X. There is hypoattenuating (dark) peritumoral edema in the surrounding white matter, with a "finger-like" spread.

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  Micrograph of an oligodendroglioma, a type of brain cancer. Brain biopsy. H&E stain

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  A brainstem glioma in four-year-old. MRI, sagittal, without contrast

See also

In Spanish: Tumor cerebral para niños