Is a brain tumor cancer?
Some brain tumors are cancerous and some are not. Malignant tumors are considered cancer. Two of the most common forms of brain cancer are metastatic brain tumors (brain metastases) and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Brain cancer cells mutate and lose their normal form or structure. This is called anaplasia. The degree of anaplasia helps to forecast a tumor’s growth potential. The most rapidly growing tumors have the highest degree of anaplasia. Benign tumors are not considered cancer. Some benign tumors have malignant forms, such as malignant meningiomas. Also, some benign brain tumors later develop into cancer. The reasons for this are unknown.
Some brain tumors are cancerous and some are not. Malignant tumors are considered cancer. Two of the most common forms of brain cancer are metastatic brain tumors (brain metastases) and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Brain cancer cells mutate and lose their normal form or structure. This is called anaplasia. The degree of anaplasia helps to forecast a tumor’s growth potential. The most rapidly growing tumors have the highest degree of anaplasia. Benign tumors are not considered cancer. Some benign tumors have malignant forms, such as malignant meningiomas. Also, some benign brain tumors later develop into cancer. The reasons for this are unknown.
Some brain tumors are a form of cancer and some are not. The word cancer suggests a tumor that behaves aggressively and in fact, the word malignancy generally means cancer. According to this definition, most anaplastic astrocytomas as well as medulloblastomas are considered cancer, whereas meningiomas and pituitary tumors are not. In practical terms, these working definitions become blurred, however, because a benign tumor growing in the brain stem or spinal cord may cause severe injury or death whereas frequently, medulloblastoma, a form of cancer, can be cured.
Brain tumors are cancerous in some cases, but not all. Malignant (high-grade) brain tumors contain cancer cells, but benign (low-grade) brain tumors do not. In very rare cases, some benign brain tumors later develop into cancer. Two of the most common forms of brain cancer are metastatic brain tumors (cancers that have spread to brain tissue from elsewhere in the body) and glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM (the most aggressive form of gliomas-primary brain tumors arising from glial cells in the brain).
