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Brain Tumor Basics
Brain Tumor Basics
New cells normally form in adult bodies only when replacing old or damaged cells. When normal (or abnormal) cells multiply when they are not needed, a tumor develops. Brain tumors occur either in the brain or in between the skull and the brain.
Tumors are classified in three ways: where they originated, how aggressive they are, and from what type of cells they formed.
Based on where they originate, the two basic kinds of brain tumors are primary and metastatic. Primary tumors start in the brain and generally stay there. Metastatic tumors begin as cancer in another part of the body and spread to the brain.
Tumors are then classified by how aggressive they are. Benign tumors have slow growing cells, usually have distinct borders and rarely spread. Malignant tumors are usually fast growing, invasive and generally life threatening. Primary tumors can be benign or malignant; however metastatic tumors are always malignant.
Regardless if they are benign or malignant, brain tumors of all types can be dangerous because the skull cannot expand to make room for the growing tumor, allowing the tumor to press on or damage delicate brain tissue. For this reason, physicians can instead refer to tumors as high-grade (rapidly growing) or low-grade (slowly growing).
