What is a brain tumor?
A brain tumor is a mass of abnormal cells growing in the brain. Brain tumors can be malignant, which means they are cancerous, or benign, which means they are non-cancerous. A brain tumor can also develop in other areas of the central nervous system (CNS), which makes up the brain and spinal cord.
Whether malignant or benign, a brain tumor can affect memory, thoughts and sensations, as well as your brain’s ability to coordinate bodily functions, such as movement and speech.
What causes brain tumors?
Brain tumors form when cells grow and multiply quickly and uncontrollably, forming an abnormal mass of cells. Experts do not fully understand what causes this to happen.
In general, changes in cell DNA lead to the development of cancer. In the case of brain tumors, these changes could happen in brain cells due to rare inherited conditions, but most occur because of gene changes during a person’s lifetime. Researchers have not determined what causes these gene changes.
Brain tumor risk factors
Researchers believe that most brain tumors develop randomly without a known outside cause. However, there are a few known risk factors:
- Having a weakened immune system
- Having an inherited syndrome that causes DNA changes in cells, such as:
- Neurofibromatosis 1 and 2
- Tuberous sclerosis
- Lynch syndrome
- Li-Fraumeni syndrome
- Von Hippel-Lindau disease
- Familial adenomatous polyposis
- Cowden syndrome
- Gorlin syndrome
- Exposure to radiation
