Brain Cancer (also called:
Glioma, Meningioma)
There are two main types of brain cancer. Primary brain
cancer starts in the brain. Metastatic brain cancer starts
somewhere else in the body and moves to the brain. Brain
tumors can be benign, with no cancer cells, or malignant,
with cancer cells that grow quickly.
Brain tumors can cause many symptoms. Some of the most
common are
* Headaches, usually worse in the morning
* Nausea and vomiting
* Changes in your ability to talk, hear or see
* Problems with balance or walking
* Problems with thinking or memory
* Muscle jerking or twitching
* Numbness or tingling in arms or legs
No one knows the exact causes of brain tumors. Doctors
can seldom explain why one person develops a brain tumor
and another does not.
Brain cancer on-line resources
More details, including medically
graphic images, can be found at The National
Cancer Institute (NCI). This website has
up-to-date information for patients and practitioners
about brain cancer. To go to NCI main web page please
click here
MedlinePlus will
direct you to information to help answer health
questions. MedlinePlus brings together authoritative
information from NLM, the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), and other government agencies and
health-related organizations. MedlinePlus also
has extensive information about drugs, an illustrated
medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials,
and latest health news.To
visit MedlinePlus online for brain cancer with an extensive,
constantly updated resource list. Please
click here
offers resources and caring
support for everyone affected by brain tumors. It offers
hope to patients, families, and caregivers during every
stage of the treatment journey. Please
click here
is the nationwide community-based voluntary health
organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major
health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and
diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education,
advocacy, and service. To get to the ACS
website: Learn About Brain/CNS Tumors in Adults please
click here
Printed materials to download
This section has pdf (Adobe Acrobat
format) files of useful resources created by various
agencies that can be downloaded directly from the pacificcancer.org
website. The organization, year of publication and size
of the pdf file are listed.
In this NCI booklet
you
will read about possible causes, screening, symptoms,
diagnosis, treatment, and supportive care. You will
also find ideas about how to cope with the disease. NCI
2006, 44 pages (pdf 468K). To download the pdf file please
click here
ASCO Answers is
a series of fact sheets that provides an introduction
to a specific type of cancer. Each fact sheet is a PDF
that includes an overview of what the cancer is, an illustration
of where the cancer starts, how it is treated, terms
to know, and questions to ask the doctor.
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2008. 2 pages (pdf 292K). To download
the pdf please
click here
Acknowledgment: This text is adapted
from the NCI website.
