What Is a Brain cancer?

At the age of 6, I was diagnosed with a brain cancer. It is most commonly found in adults, so perhaps that means I am mature, but likely it only indicates a lack of fortune.

Brain cancer is a type of cancer that is thought to originate the oligodendrocytes in the brain. Most of the time brain cancer occurs in adults; only four percent of them occur in children. On average, patients diagnosed with them are about 35 years old.

Brain cancer originates from an unknown source at this time. Some studies have shown a link to a viral cause while others have found a genetic cause. More than likely, both are causes.

There is no way to tell if a cancer is a brain cancer aside from taking a biopsy. They often take a shape similar to a fried egg and sort of wrap around healthy cells. This can lead to headaches, dizziness, and seizures. Since brain cancer can occur anywhere in the brain, they can ultimately have a number of different symptoms associated with them. For instance, visual loss, motor problems, and even cognitive difficulties can result depending on the location of the cancer.

Many experts believe that brain cancer is ultimately incurable. They tend to be slow growing and are difficult to remove completely and so recurrence is almost certain. Depending on the "grade" of the cancer, victims typically live anywhere from 3-12 years (although I have made it almost 30). Of course this range is only semi-accurate as severity of the cancer, type of treatment, general health at the time of diagnosis, etc., all have a significant impact on the survival rate of brain cancer and any type of cancer for that matter.

There are a number of different approaches to dealing with brain cancer including:

1. Surgery- obviously one way to remove any cancer is to surgically excise it. This may be a particularly important approach when the cancer is directly affecting particular brain structures.

2. Radiation therapy- this may be done in addition to surgery or as a standalone treatment to destroy the cancer cells. However, it can also damage healthy tissue.

3. Chemotherapy- this is a natural approach to any cancer because it can be effective at killing off cancer cells, but it often also brings harsh side effects.

4. Stereotactic Surgery- this is a relatively recent approach that allows doctors to "target" cells three dimensionally and essentially "shoot" them with radiation. That way only the bad cells are affected, unlike with radiation.