I am going to try to post information about brain tumors over the course of this month for awareness because May is the month. I got this from the kid section of the American Brain Tumor Association webpage so it's on their level. Just a start for the month. I thought it was cute they had kids pages for them to learn about tumors from and post their stories and other educational stuff.
American Brain Tumor Association gets credit for the information.
Brain tumors are not common in young people.
Each year, only 2200 children in the United States are found to have a brain tumor.
About 3 children out of every 100,000 children will have a brain tumor.
Brain tumors usually happen in adults ages 35 and older.
Each year about 180,000 adults are found to have a brain tumor.
There are different types of brain tumors. As a matter of fact, there are over 100 types of brain tumors!
When a child is found to have a brain tumor, it is most often a "medulloblastoma" or an "astrocytoma" brain tumor. These are both very specific types of brain tumors.
Medulloblastomas are named after a part of the brain called the "medulla oblongata." The medulla connects the bottom of the brain to the top of the spinal cord.
Astrocytomas are named after the Latin word "astro" meaning "star." The cells that make up an astrocytoma look like stars.
The types of brain tumors more often found in adults: "glioblastoma," "meningioma," and "oligodendroglioma."
Oligodendrogliomas have cells that look like fried eggs!
Scientists are working hard to learn what causes brain tumors and how to make them stop growing. Right now, scientists are focusing on the DNA inside tumor cells. Most brain tumors seem to have an abnormal chromosome somewhere in their DNA - how this happens is not yet known.
Scientists DO know that nothing you think, say, or do can cause a brain tumor. And, you cannot "catch" a brain tumor from someone else.
Half of the tumors that begin in the brain are "benign." Benign means "not cancer." Doctors usually treat benign tumors with an operation to remove the tumor.
Some brain tumors are cancer. Those tumors are called "malignant" tumors, and they can be treated. Doctors usually begin with an operation to remove the tumor. Radiation and chemotherapy are then used to help get rid of any leftover tumor. Radiation is treatment using special medical x-ray beams. Chemotherapy is treatment with drugs that kill cancer cells.
July, 2007
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