Brain Cancer (Tumor Types)

Types of brain tumors:

In the following there is a list of the more common brain cancers and what types occur both in the central nervous system as well as in the spinal cord. It shows that the more common brain tumors are glioblastoma and astrocytoma, all of which are based on histology slides. Click on the links for further details.

The following tables of frequency of occurrence are based on data from Ref.1 and 2 where neurosurgeons operated on patients with various brain tumors and sent the surgical samples for histological analysis to the pathologist.

Some of these are benign tumors such as acoustic neuroma, which is a schwannoma, which has abnormal cells, but no cancer cells. However, as there is only so much space within the human skull, these tumors become a danger to the person who has it. The increased intracranial pressure threatens the survival of the brain tissue. For this reason even a benign brain tumor can become an emergency that requires surgery.

Disclaimer:

This outline is only a teaching aid to patients and should stimulate you to ask the right questions when seeing your doctor. However, the responsibility of treatment stays in the hands of your doctor and you.

References:

1. Cancer: Principles &Practice of Oncology. 4th edition. Edited by Vincent T. DeVita, Jr. et al. Lippincott, Philadelphia,PA, 1993. Chapter on brain cancer.

2. Cancer: Principles&Practice of Oncology. 5th edition, volume 2. Edited by Vincent T. DeVita, Jr. et al. Lippincott-Raven Publ., Philadelphia,PA, 1997. Chapter on brain cancer.

3. Conn's Current Therapy 2004, 56th ed., Copyright © 2004 Elsevier

4. Ferri: Ferri's Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment, 2004 ed., Copyright © 2004 Mosby, Inc

Last Modified: Feb. 2, 2012