Brain Cancer Tumor Causes

Brain tumors that begin in the brain

Primary brain tumors originate in the brain or close to it, such as in the brain-covering membranes (meninges), cranial nerves, pituitary gland or pineal gland. Primary brain tumors begin when normal cells acquire errors (mutations) in their DNA. These mutations allow cells to grow and divide at increased rates and to continue living when healthy cells would die. The result is a mass of abnormal cells, which forms a tumor.

Primary brain tumors are much less common than are secondary brain tumors, in which cancer begins elsewhere and spreads to the brain. Many different types of primary brain tumors exist. Each gets its name from the type of cells involved. Examples include:

* Acoustic neuroma (schwannoma)
* Astrocytoma, also known as glioma, which includes anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma
* Ependymoma
* Ependymoblastoma
* Medulloblastoma
* Meningioma
* Neuroblastoma
* Oligodendroglioma
* Pineoblastoma


Cancer that begins elsewhere and spreads to the brain

Secondary (metastatic) brain tumors are tumors that result from cancer that starts elsewhere in your body and then spreads (metastasizes) to your brain. In some cases you may have a history of cancer when a brain tumor is discovered. In other cases, a brain tumor is the first sign of cancer that began elsewhere in your body.

Secondary brain tumors are far more common than are primary brain tumors. Any cancer can spread to the brain, but the most common ones include:

* Breast cancer
* Colon cancer
* Kidney cancer
* Lung cancer
* Melanoma
* Neuroblastoma
* Sarcoma

Brain Cancer: Descriptions And Symptoms

A brain tumor is a mass or growth of abnormal cells in your brain. Many different types of brain tumors exist. Some brain tumors are noncancerous (benign), and some brain tumors are cancerous (malignant). Brain tumors can begin in your brain (primary brain tumors), or cancer can begin in other parts of your body and spread to your brain (secondary, or metastatic brain tumors).

The number of brain tumors diagnosed each year is increasing. There's evidence the increase has been occurring for decades. But it's not clear why.

The signs and symptoms of a brain tumor vary greatly and depend on the brain tumor's size, location and rate of growth.

General signs and symptoms caused by brain tumors may include:

* New onset or change in pattern of headaches
* Headaches that gradually become more frequent and more severe
* Unexplained nausea or vomiting
* Vision problems, such as blurred vision, double vision or loss of peripheral vision
* Gradual loss of sensation or movement in an arm or a leg
* Difficulty with balance
* Speech difficulties
* Confusion in everyday matters
* Personality or behavior changes
* Seizures, especially in someone who doesn't have a history of seizures
* Hearing problems
* Hormonal (endocrine) disorders

Gallbladder Cancer Complications and Treatments

Gallbladder and bile duct tumors can cause a number of complications including:

* Nausea and vomiting. These signs and symptoms, along with jaundice, can result when a tumor blocks the common bile duct.

* Malabsorption. A growing tumor in the common bile duct can press against the upper part of the small intestine, preventing food and digestive enzymes from passing normally into the duodenum. This can lead to malabsorption and malnutrition.

* Metastasis. This is the most serious complication of biliary tract cancer. Your gallbladder and bile ducts are surrounded by a number of vital organs, including your liver, stomach, pancreas and intestines. Because biliary tract cancers are rarely discovered in the early stages, they often have time to spread to these organs or to nearby lymph nodes.

Gallbladder cancer treatment depends on the type and stage of cancer, as well as on your age, overall health, feelings and personal preferences. Especially when cancer is advanced, choosing a treatment plan is a major decision, and it's important to take enough time to consider your choices.

You may also want to consider seeking a second opinion. This can provide additional information to help you feel more certain about the option you're considering.

The goal of any treatment is to eliminate the cancer completely. When that isn't possible, the focus may be on preventing the tumor from growing or causing more harm. In some cases, an approach called palliative care may be best. Palliative care refers to treatment aimed not at removing or slowing the disease, but at helping relieve symptoms and making you as comfortable as possible.

Gallbladder cancer

Surgical removal (resection) of the gallbladder usually offers the best hope for people with gallbladder cancer. If the tumor is very small and hasn't spread to the deeper layers of gallbladder tissue, your surgeon may perform a simple cholecystectomy, which removes only the gallbladder. Sometimes this may be done laparoscopically, using a camera and miniature instruments inserted through small incisions in your abdomen.

If the cancer is more advanced, your surgeon will likely perform what's known as an extended cholecystectomy — an operation in which some liver tissue and nearby lymph nodes are removed along with your gallbladder.

Once the cancer has spread beyond the walls of your gallbladder, it can no longer be completely removed with an operation. In that case, your treatment team will discuss other options with you. These may include radiation — either external beam radiation (high-energy X-rays) or implanted radiation "seeds" — or chemotherapy, which is anti-cancer medication.

These additional treatments may be used alone or in combination. Some doctors believe that radiation together with chemotherapy after surgery is more effective than either alone.

Radiation and chemotherapy may also be used for palliative care to help make you more comfortable if your cancer is so advanced that treating the cancer is no longer an option. For example, either treatment may be used to help shrink a tumor that's blocking a bile duct.

Bile duct cancer

Surgery usually offers the best chance for people with bile duct cancer. But the type of operation you may have will vary, depending on the location of the cancer and how extensive it is:

* Perihilar tumors. Tumors that develop where the hepatic duct leaves your liver (perihilar tumors) are usually treated by surgically removing a portion of the bile duct, the gallbladder and surrounding lymph nodes.

* Distal tumors. Treatment for these tumors, located in the bile duct near your small intestine, is often by what's known as a Whipple resection. In this operation, your surgeon removes part of your pancreas, the common bile duct and your gallbladder, as well as a small portion of your intestine where the common bile duct and pancreatic duct enter the intestine together.

* Tumors that can't be removed. When a tumor is too close to major blood vessels, your surgeon may suggest an operation to bypass some of your small intestine. This may help prevent further blockage of your bile duct and digestive tract and may also help relieve symptoms, but won't cure the cancer. If a bypass isn't an option, your surgeon may place metal or plastic tubes known as stents into the bile duct to keep it open. After surgery, your doctor may also recommend radiation or chemotherapy.

Clinical trials

Because standard treatments are rarely effective for advanced biliary tract cancers, you may want to consider participating in a clinical trial. This is a study that tests new therapies — typically new drugs, different approaches to surgery or radiation treatments, and novel methods such as gene therapy. If the therapy being tested proves to be safer or more effective than current treatments, it will become the new standard of care.

Treatments used in clinical trials haven't yet been shown to be effective. They may have serious or unexpected side effects, and there's no guarantee you'll benefit from them. On the other hand, cancer clinical trials are closely monitored by the federal government to ensure they're conducted as safely as possible. And they offer access to treatments that wouldn't otherwise be available to you. New methods of chemotherapy and radiation are currently in clinical trials.

If you're interested in finding out more about clinical trials, talk to your treatment team. You can also call the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service at 800-4-CANCER, or 800-422-6237. The call is free, and trained specialists are available to answer your questions. Or visit the National Cancer Institute's Web site.

Risk Factors In Having Gallbladder Cancer (Part 2)

8) Obesity. If you are very overweight (about 30 pounds more than your ideal weight), you're at increased risk of gallbladder cancer. It's estimated that as many as one in every four cases of gallbladder cancer is linked to excess weight.

9) Race. American Indians, especially those living in the Southwest, are five times as likely to develop gallstones and gallbladder cancer as whites are. Hispanics also have higher rates of gallbladder cancer than whites do.

10) Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). This autoimmune disorder causes your immune system to attack your bile ducts. PSC creates scar tissue that narrows the bile ducts and prevents bile from reaching your intestines. Over time, repeated injury to bile duct tissue can increase the likelihood of developing cancer.

11) Ulcerative colitis. Another autoimmune disease, ulcerative colitis is characterized by severe bouts of bloody diarrhea with abdominal pain and cramping.

12) Congenital abnormalities of the bile ducts. These include choledochal cysts, which is a dilation or stretching of the common bile duct, and Caroli's disease — a dilation of the bile ducts within your liver (intrahepatic ducts). Over time bile that collects in these dilated spaces may seriously damage the duct lining.

13) Bile duct stones. Gallstones sometimes escape the gallbladder and enter the cystic duct, the common bile duct or, occasionally, the duct leading to your pancreas. These migrating stones can cause serious complications, including an increased chance of developing bile duct cancer.

14) Parasitic infections. These are primarily a concern in Asian countries. Parasitic infections generally occur when humans eat fish containing the cysts of certain flatworms. The worms migrate to the bile ducts, where they damage the duct lining.

Risk Factors In Having Gallbladder Cancer (Part 1)

A number of factors may increase your risk of both gallbladder and bile duct tumors, including:

1) Gallstones. These solid deposits of cholesterol or calcium salts form in your gallbladder, they are the most common risk factor for gallbladder cancer. The stones may cause your gallbladder to release bile more slowly, which increases the amount of time cells are exposed to toxins. Although most people with gallbladder cancer also have gallstones, the vast majority of people with gallstones never develop gallbladder cancer.

2) Age. The chances of developing gallbladder cancer increase as you get older. Most people diagnosed with gallbladder cancer are in their 70s. Bile duct cancer is most common in those over 65.

3) Your sex. Women are at least twice as likely as men are to develop gallbladder cancer. They're also more likely to have gallstones because the female hormone estrogen causes more cholesterol, the main component of most gallstones, to be excreted in bile. But, bile duct cancers are more likely to occur in men than they are in women.

4) Bile duct abnormalities. The pancreatobiliary duct junction is the point where the common bile duct — which carries bile from your liver and gallbladder to your small intestine — joins the pancreatic duct carrying digestive juices from your pancreas. In some people, these two ducts connect in a way that allows pancreatic juices to back up into the bile duct and prevents bile from being quickly emptied into the small intestine. This may irritate the cells lining the gallbladder and bile ducts, increasing the risk of cancer.

5) Gallbladder polyps. These are growths on the inner surface of your gallbladder. Most aren't cancerous, but polyps can contain malignant cells.

6) Diet. Eating food high in carbohydrates and low in fiber may increase your risk of gallbladder cancer.

7) Hazardous chemicals and toxic substances. People exposed to certain industrial chemicals, especially azotoluene, have an increased risk of developing gallbladder cancer. Thorium dioxide (Thorotrast), a dye once used in X-rays, can cause both liver and bile duct cancers. Although Thorotrast hasn't been used for decades, exposure to other toxic materials — including dioxin, nitrosamines and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) — may increase your risk of bile duct cancer.

Causes of Gall Bladder Cancer

Your gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ on the right side of your abdomen, just beneath your liver. Its main function is to store bile, a bitter, yellow-green fluid that's produced in the liver cells. Bile is essential for the proper digestion of fats and is one of the main ways your body eliminates drugs, cholesterol and waste products of metabolism. It flows from your liver through a thin tube called the common hepatic duct and enters your gallbladder through another small tube (cystic duct).

When you eat, your gallbladder releases a highly concentrated form of bile into the common bile duct, a continuation of the hepatic and cystic ducts. The bile flows through this duct to the upper part of your small intestine (duodenum), where it begins to break down the fat in your food.

How gallbladder cancer begins?
Healthy cells grow and divide in an orderly way — a process that's controlled by DNA, the genetic material that contains the instructions for every chemical process in your body. When DNA is damaged, changes occur in these instructions. One result is that cells may begin to grow out of control and eventually form a malignant tumor — a mass of cancerous cells.

Although the exact cause of gallbladder and bile duct cancers isn't clear, researchers believe that DNA in the cells of your biliary tract may be damaged by toxins that are routinely metabolized by your liver. These toxins are released into bile so that they can be eliminated from your body. But if bile empties more slowly than normal, it increases the amount of time your cells are exposed to cancer-causing substances (carcinogens).

Most gallbladder tumors develop in the cells that line the inner surface of the gallbladder. These tumors are most commonly adenocarcinomas — a term that describes the way the cancer cells look when viewed under a microscope.

Gallbladder adenocarcinoma is highly invasive and can quickly penetrate deep into the gallbladder wall, moving through layers of tissue from the inner surface to the outside of the gallbladder. Eventually the cancer may spread to nearby lymph nodes, obstruct the bile duct or invade other organs such as the liver. Cancer cells may also travel through the bloodstream to more remote parts of the body.

Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)
Cancer can develop in any part of the bile duct that stretches from your liver to your small intestine. Many tumors occur in the hepatic duct just as it leaves the liver (perihilar tumors). Other tumors may develop in the bile duct near your small intestine (distal tumors) or inside the liver itself (intrahepatic tumors).

The majority of bile duct cancers are adenocarcinomas that originate in the mucous glands lining the inside of the ducts. By the time these cancers are diagnosed, they often have spread to other tissues and organs.

Gallbladder Cancer and its Symptoms

Gallbladder cancer and bile duct cancer are rare cancers of the biliary tract. Your gallbladder stores and your bile duct transports bile, a fluid produced by your liver that's essential to the digestive process.

Gallbladder cancer seldom produces symptoms in the early stages. In fact, early gallbladder cancer is often only discovered when the gallbladder is removed as a treatment for gallstones. Otherwise, gallbladder cancer is often quite advanced by the time it's diagnosed.

When gallbladder cancer is caught early, removing your gallbladder or part of the bile duct may eliminate all the cancerous cells. In advanced cases, treatment won't cure gallbladder cancer but can help relieve symptoms and improve your quality of life.

Gallbladder cancer rarely produces early signs and symptoms. When symptoms do appear, they often resemble those of other, more common, gallbladder problems such as gallstones or infection. Gallbladder cancer symptoms include:

1) Abdominal pain. Many people with gallbladder cancer have some abdominal pain — usually in the upper right part of the abdomen.

2) Nausea and vomiting. These symptoms can occur when a tumor blocks the common bile duct.

3) Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice). Jaundice results from high blood levels of bilirubin — the residue from the breakdown of red blood cells. Normally, bilirubin is metabolized in your liver and eliminated through the bile ducts. But a blocked bile duct can cause bilirubin to accumulate in your blood. The built-up pigments may turn your skin and the whites of your eyes yellow and your urine dark brown. Because bilirubin isn't being eliminated through your bile, your stools also may turn pale yellow or white.

4) Unintended weight loss or loss of appetite. Tumors can prevent the normal passage of food or interfere with its absorption by blocking the flow of pancreatic enzymes.

Coping From Anal Cancer

A cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming and frightening. You can help yourself to feel more in control of your cancer and your emotions by taking an active role in your health care. To help you cope, try to:

1) Create a support network. Having friends and family supporting you can be valuable. You may find it helps to have someone to talk to about your emotions. Other people who may provide support include social workers and psychologists — ask your doctor for a referral if you feel the need to talk to someone. Talk with your pastor, rabbi or other spiritual leader. Other people with cancer can offer a unique perspective, so consider joining a support group — whether it's in your community or online. Contact the American Cancer Society for more information on support groups.

2) Take time for yourself when you need it. Let people know when you want to be alone. Quiet time to think or write in a journal can help you sort out your emotions.

3) Take care of yourself. Prepare yourself for treatment by making healthy lifestyle choices. For instance, if you smoke, quit smoking. Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Get exercise when you feel up to it, but check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program. Try to get enough sleep so that you wake feeling refreshed. Talk to your doctor if you're having trouble sleeping. Try to control stress by prioritizing what's important to you. These healthy choices make it easier for you to cope with the side effects of treatment.