What causes primary brain tumors?
Many advances have been made in our understanding of brain tumors in recent years, especially for the more common types of malignant brain tumors. These tumors generally have several mutations (abnormalities in the DNA) most of which are present only in the tumor cells and not elsewhere in the body. These mutations tend to be in specific areas of the DNA, and the presence of mutations in the DNA in these regions allows the cells to grow and divide out of control. Much remains to be learned about the cause of these mutations and the manner in which they permit cells to grow and divide abnormally. Even more important, much remains to be learned how knowledge of the causes of these tumors can be used to devise more effective treatments.
