Brain Tumor (뇌종양)

뇌조직에 비정상적인 세포들이 자라나는 걸 tumor 라고 하는데, malignant (cancerous) 와 benign (noncancerous) 으로 나누는데, 뇌의 중요한 부위에 근접해 있느냐, 혹은 their enclosure within the skull, 이 두 타입이 치명적이다. Brain tumors are usually classfied as low or high grade, depending on how fast they're growing.

 

약 52,000 명의 뇌, 신경 시스템 종양이 매년 미국에서 진단되어 지고, 13,000 이상의 사람이 뇌종양 합병증으로 매년 죽는다.

 Research 에 따르면 ① being male ② Caucasian ③ age 70 or older ④ being exposed to radiation or toxic chemicals at work ⑤ having a family history of brain tumors    increases a person's risk.

 

Symptoms such as severe morning headaches ; nausea or vomiting ; changes in speech, vision, or hearing ; balance and memory problems ; and convulsions  may occur when a tumor presses on a nerve or damage a certain area of the brain.

 

Meningiomas(뇌수막종) account for 27 percent of tumors that start in the brain. They form in the meninges and affect twice as many women as men. Because they rarely spread, they are often curable with surgery.

 

High-grade astrocytomas(성상세포종) and glioblastomas(교모세포종) originate in the astrocytes, the connective tissue cells of the brain. These tumors grow rapidly, invading nearby folds of the brain, and can be difficult to treat even with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. These account for about 25 percent of all primary brain cancers.

 

 

After leukemia(백혈병), brain tumors are the second-most-common type of cancer in children and young adults. Medulloblastoma(수아종), for example, is a rare type of tumor that afflicts mainly boys and young men.