How big are the brain tumors generally?

Answer 1

My dad has has 3 brain tumors removed surgically. The first one was the size of a grapefruit. He had it for several years and just never knew it until he began having severe headaches and memory loss. (He is fortunate to have survived that brain tumor!) The second and third tumors were discovered early since Dad goes for frequent MRI's now. They were about the size of a nickel when they were discovered and removed. At his last MRI they discovered another one (he has meningiomas, so they are not cancerous, but are reoccurring and tend to grow quickly unless removed). This one was tiny and they are going to recheck it this week to see if it has grown any and to devise a plan to remove it as well.

Answer 2

Sizes Of Brain Tumors

Answer 3

My wife had one removed from the left side of her brain right above the right ear that was the size of a baseball. If was removed in May 2005, but we were notified this month that it was growing again. Prognosis is not good.

Answer 4

Just depends.
By the time my fathers brain cancer was found.. 2/3 of his brain was covered and had been paralized for 2 weeks (thinking it was a side effect of a flu shot).

Answer 5

Primary brain tumors include any tumor that starts in the brain. Tumors may be confined to a small area, invasive (spread to nearby areas), benign (not cancerous), or malignant (cancerous).

Tumors can directly destroy brain cells. They can also indirectly damage cells by producing inflammation, compressing other parts of the brain as the tumor grows, causing swelling in the brain, and increasing pressure within the skull.

Brain tumors are classified depending on the exact site of the tumor, the type of tissue involved, benign or malignant tendencies of the tumor, and other factors. Primary brain tumors can arise from the brain cells, the meninges (membranes around the brain), nerves, or glands.

The cause of primary brain tumors is unknown. This is because they are rare, there are many types, and there are many possible risk factors that could play a role. Exposure to some types of radiation, head injuries, and hormone replacement therapy may be risk factors, as well as many others. The risk of using cell phones is hotly debated.

Some inherited conditions increase the risk of brain tumors, including neurofibromatosis, Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, and Turcot's syndrome.

Tumors may occur at any age, but many specific tumors have a particular age group in which they are most common. In adults, gliomas and meningiomas are most common.

SPECIFIC TUMOR TYPES


Gliomas are thought to be derived from glial cells such as astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and ependymal cells. These tumors can have varying degrees of malignancy. The gliomas are subdivided into 3 types:
Astrocytic tumors include astrocytomas (less malignant), anaplastic astrocytomas, and glioblastomas (most malignant). Astrocytomas can progress over time more malignant forms, including glioblastoma.
Oligodendroglial tumors also can vary from low grade to very malignant. Some primary brain tumors are composed of both astrocytic and oligodendrocytic tumors. These are called mixed gliomas.
Glioblastomas are the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor. These may or may not arise from a prior lower grade primary brain tumor.

Treatment can involve surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, as well as experimental therapies in various combinations. Therefore, these tumors are best treated by a team involving a neurosurgeon, radiation oncologist, oncologist or neuro-oncologist, and others, such as neurologists and social workers.

More recently, "molecular subtyping" of tumors is being used to make decisions about how to best treat a particular tumor. Because these tumors are difficult to cure, patients should consider enrolling in a clinical trial after talking with their treatment team. All of the above tumors can be difficult to remove completely by surgery alone, because the tumor invades surrounding brain tissue much like roots from a plant. It is often difficult for a neurosurgeon to determine where the tumor ends.

Meningiomas are another type of brain tumor. These tumors:

Occur most commonly between the ages of 40 to 70
Much more common in women.
While 90% are benign, they still may cause devastating complications and death due to their size or location. Some are cancerous and aggressive.
Other primary brain tumors in adults are rare and can include ependymomas, craniopharyngiomas, pituitary tumors, pineal gland tumors, primary germ cell tumors of the brain, and other types.

Symptoms Return to top

The specific symptoms depend on the tumor's size, location, degree of invasion, and related swelling. Headaches, seizures, weakness in one part of the body, and changes in the person's mental functions are most common.

Symptoms may include:

Headache -- a persistent headache that is new for the person, worse on awakening
Vomiting -- possibly accompanied by nausea; more severe in the morning
Personality and behavior changes
Emotional instability, rapid emotional changes
Loss of memory, impaired judgment
Seizures that are new for the person
Reduced alertness
Double vision, decreased vision
Hearing loss
Decreased sensation of a body area
Weakness of a body area
Speech difficulties
Decreased coordination, clumsiness, falls
Fever (sometimes)
Weakness, lethargy
General ill feeling
Positive Babinski's reflex
Decerebrate posture
Decorticate posture
Additional symptoms that may be associated with primary brain tumors:
Tongue problems
Swallowing difficulty
Impaired sense of smell
Obesity
Uncontrollable movement
Dysfunctional movement
Absent menstruation
Hiccups
Hand tremor
Facial paralysis
Eye abnormalities
pupils different sizes
uncontrollable movements
eyelid drooping
Confusion
Breathing, absent temporarily
Unusual or strange behavior

Answer 6

i cnat answer that, i just refered someone to the cleveland clinic for something else (gastric bypass) well i cna tell you that if you go to that site you will find all sorts of good stuff

http://www.clevelandclinic.org

i had 3 brain surgeries through them 1 in florida 2 in cleveland ohio they are the best for nero stuff

Answer 7

is a 19mmx 15mm a big tumor?..its on my brain

Answer 8

From pea size to the size of a fist.

Answer 9

It really depends on how fast it grows, when it's discovered, and why it's there (cancer or otherwise). They can be tiny, and they can grow large enough to kill you. A bit of an open ended question...

Answer 10

My dad had one the size of a thumb when it finally exploded and he stroked out