Brain Cancer Survival Rate - Dare to Know Your Chances

A brain cancer survival rate refers to the percentage of people who were reported still living after being diagnosed with the cancer about 5 yrs ago.

Basically, brain tumor is the abnormal growth of cells in the brain and we commonly refer to it as cancer cells. There are different ways in which a tumor may spread. One is that it can be a cause of the spread of cancerous cells originating from another body part or the cancer cells are really coming from the brain itself.

It is true that exposure to harmful chemicals leads to abnormal growth of brain tumor. It was statistically confirmed that about 80% of brain cancer patients are suffering from oligodendroglioma.

Cancer of the brain remains one of the most incurable cancers with an average survival period of one to two years.

Factors Affecting Survival

A five-year brain cancer survival rate may be influenced by several factors including the size of the tumor, at which part of the brain, the severity of the cancer and the stage. In most occasions, the general health of the patient is also an indicative factor of survival.

How do you calculate the rate of survival?

Survival statistics are based on a large number of people, and should not be used to predict the survival of an individual or patient.

Healthline.com reported that children at the age of 14 have around 73 percent chance of surviving cancer of the brain and live until five years of more, while the rate drops to 55 percent with young adults between 15 and 44. Middle-aged patients between 45 and 64 have a rate of 16 percent, and older people have a survival rate of only 5 percent.

Other facts

Statistical facts show that with the proper combination and usage of radiotherapy and chemotherapeutic drugs, the lives of those with brain cancer may be prolonged. In some patients, the quality of live may even be improved but there are those who easily give up and were not luckily able to live more than 2 years.

The brain cancer survival rate presented here is based on a relative result. The total 5-year brain cancer survival rate from the years 1995-2001 was more than 33%. The relative survival rates at 5 years for brain cancer by race and sex were:

• 32.1 percent of Caucasian men
• 37.7 percent for African-American men
• 33.5 percent of Caucasian women
• 37.5 percent for African-American women.

Brain cancer survival rate statistics reveals that about 85% of physical disorders were affected by the negative mental and emotional stress at the fourth/metastatic stage of the disease.

Many patients could attest to the fact that negative emotion and mental stress weaken the immune system despite the fact that there is no such direct connection between negative emotion and cancer, medically speaking. This is one thing we should remember when dealing with patients suffering from cancer, in general.

Adult Brain Tumor Risks, Diagnosis, and Treatment

A brain tumor is a mass or growth of abnormal cells that have multiplied out of control. There are many different types of brain tumors. Some are benign, or non-cancerous, while others are classified as malignant, or cancerous. Symptoms you experience and treatment options depend largely on the type of tumor as well as its size and location.

Primary brain tumors are those that originate in the brain or tissues surrounding it. These tumors are much less common than secondary tumors, which occur when cancer from another part of the body metastasizes or spreads to the brain. While any type of cancer may do this, melanoma and cancers of the breast, colon, kidney, and lung are the most common to metastasize to the brain.

Researchers have not been able to determine exactly what causes brain tumors to form. Only a few risk factors have been documented. Exposure to radiation therapy of the head may put you at a higher risk for developing brain tumors. Certain genetic syndromes may increase your risk as well. Typically, there is not a clear indication of what caused the tumor to form. Research continues to determine if cell phones may contribute to the formation of brain tumors. At this time, no clear conclusions have been made linking the two.

There are no reliable screenings that detect brain tumors before symptoms appear. Patients may suffer from a variety of symptoms before visiting their physician for diagnosis. The size, location, and rate of growth of the tumor often determine what symptoms occur. Some of the most common symptoms may include:

• Headaches that occur more often and become more severe over time
• Blurred or double vision
• Hearing loss
• Unexplained nausea and vomiting
• Changes in personality
• Confusion
• Seizures
• Weakness or loss of movement in an arm or leg

If you experience any of these symptoms, visit your physician for a diagnosis. He or she will recommend a variety of tests to determine whether or not a brain tumor is the problem. Checking your vision, hearing, coordination, and reflexes with a neurological exam may indicate which part of brain is affected. An MRI allows the physician to scan your brain and evaluate the situation. A CT scan may be administered to determine if there is cancer in another part of your body that may have spread. If a tumor is found, the patient may undergo a biopsy to diagnose the tumor as benign or malignant.

Benign tumors are less aggressive than malignant ones and do not normally spread to surrounding tissue or other parts of the body. Even though they are not cancerous, benign tumors can still be very serious and possibly life threatening. If they are located in a vital area of the brain, exert pressure on sensitive nerve tissue, or increase pressure in the brain, these tumors may pose a serious risk to the patient. Benign tumors are often successfully treated with surgery, reducing the patient's risk of disability or death.

There are three standard types of treatment for malignant tumors: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. New treatments are constantly being researched and used in clinical trials throughout the world. For some patients, clinical trials are the best choice of treatment. Your cancer care team will make recommendations for the treatment options that best suit your particular situation.

It is important that those patients who are dealing with a brain tumor not only get the best treatment available, but also find support to cope with their diagnosis. Talk with your physician or oncologist about support options in your area.

Do Cell Phones Really Cause Brain Cancer?

The cell phone today is more ubiquitous than ever, and scientific studies continue to try to distinguish the relationship between cellular phones and cancer.

A recent study from the National Institutes of Health showed increased brain activity in participants exposed to cell phone radiation. The study used PET scans to measure the brain's sugar level, and found increased activity in regions closest to the phone's antenna after 50 minutes of exposure. Although the increased activity isn't directly linked to harmful effects, the human brain's evident sensitivity to the phone's electromagnetic waves does raise further questions.

In May 2011, the World Health Organization reclassified cell phone radiation exposure as "possibly carcinogenic," a label that places it in the same category as chloroform and lead. The most extensive case control study of cellular phones and cancer, the Interphone study, conducted across 13 countries for a decade found that the highest grade of mobile phone users-those who used their phones for 30 minutes a day over 10 years or more- were twice as likely to develop glioma, a malignant brain tumor. These results are alarming, particularly because the study failed to take into account that children and young adults are far more susceptible to cell phone radiation than adults.

Cellular phone radiation testing conducted by manufacturers also underestimates the amount of radiation that users are exposed to. A recent paper published in the journal Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine revealed that industry testing is done on a mannequin modeled after a 6'2", 200 pound man with the phone held one inch from the mannequin's ear. The study estimates that 97 percent of the population deviate from this unrealistic model of usage and experience greater exposure.

The Federal Communications Commission requires a mobile phone to have a Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), a measure of the peak of electromagnetic radiation level in a model, of less than 1.6 watts per kilogram. However, the peak SAR may not represent the actual SAR levels of a typical phone call. A cellular phone with a lower SAR may expose the user to more radiation on average than one with a higher SAR. A study conducted by a bioengineering research professor, Dr. Henry Lai, found effects of memory loss in rats exposed to SAR levels as low 0.0006 to 0.06 watts per kilogram.

As of 2010, there are over 223 million mobile phone users in the US over the age of 13 and the numbers are constantly growing. According to the CTIA, the Wireless Association, the total minutes of cell phone use in America in 2009 was 2.3 trillion minutes. Cellular phone users are also starting at younger ages. Given the indispensable role of cell phones in our lives and the increasing concern about an association between cell phone use and cancer, regulatory agencies should carry out more thorough investigations, and cell phone users should exercise caution and take steps to lower their exposure to cell phone radiation.

Cancer Causes and Prevention

Cancer is a very common affliction these days and kills millions every year across the globe. Depending on where the cancer appears, it may be simple to cure or even difficult to even treat, more or less eliminate. People often wonder out loud if there will every be a cure to cancer, but the problem we face is that there are many different types, but we do know what causes it and there are ways to at least reduce your chances of getting it.

There are really only two ways that cancer can exist. The first is through genetic mutation. Somehow or another from various possible sources, the DNA in a cell is damaged. This happens all the time, but where the damage takes place is the important thing. If it damages its ability to produce something, big deal. Just one less cell to do so. However, if it affects the cell's DNA which tells it to grow, it may start doing so with no limit. This is really what cancer is. These cells choke off others and consume large amount of resources, eventually killing the host.

Some people however seem to be born with a flaw in their DNA that makes some certain cancer almost inevitable. This is unfortunate as taking precautions may be almost pointless. Nonetheless, a cell starts dividing out of control and before long there are tons of these guys going haywire. The body normally fixes damage to DNA or kills rogue cells, but if one or more is able to escape certain destruction, it can start dividing such that the body cannot catch up.

Of course there are things that can be done to reduce your chances of cancer regardless of your genetic predisposition to it. Since your body is supposed to fix damage or kill messed up cells, even genetically disturbed cells produced naturally can theoretically be avoided. Of course there are a number of things that you should not do such as smoking, alcohol, and exposure to radiation. You should never tan and wear sunscreen while in the sun. Also avoiding harmful chemicals and fumes can be good as well. There are also things you should do such as eating a balanced diet high in fruits and vegetables, drinking plenty of water, and getting plenty of exercise.

When I was young I was stricken with an oligodendroglioma, a very uncommon cancer that probably could not have been avoided based on the age in which I got it. But fifteen years later I got another unrelated tumor from the radiation therapy I had from the first. I can tell you from experience that knowing the potential causes of cancer and how to reduce your chances is very good information to have, and would have been helpful to me to possibly avoid my second tumor altogether.

Diagnosis of Brain Cancer By Using Proteomics Approaches

Brain cancer (also known as malignant brain tumor, in medical definitions), is the most threatening cancer among all the cancers in humans. By using various proteomics approaches, we can easily detect as well as analysis the effect of specific genetic events involved in malignant brain cancer progression.

In proteomics, we generally study the proteomes. A proteome can be called as a protein compliment of a genome.

Malignant brain tumors are generally classified in four grades, according to their complexity or on the basis of their physical appearance under the microscope.

Grade 1, term generally used when brain cells show their physical appearance similar to normal cells. Simply, it is like a benign tissue or cells.

In grade 2, more malignant cells start for proliferation. In grade 3, they are likely to grow rapidly and start to invade in nearly located normal cells. This situation is called as anaplastic, in medical terminology.

In grade 4, (generally termed as most abnormal cells), cancer cells can break away from the tumors and start to spreading out, may be to other parts of the brain or to spinal cord.

Generally, brain cancer cells have a wide range of abnormal proteins. They express altered genetic potential of a cancer cell. These are the relevant examples of genetically modified proteins as well as regulated proteins after their synthesis.

Interpretation of the genetic level modification in various types of brain cancers i.e. brain stem glioma, ependymoma, astrocytoma, medulloblastoma, oligodendroglioma, meningioma, can be easily done by using miscellaneous tools of proteomics. These distinct techniques basically act on the modification property of that abnormal cancer protein i.e. extracted from a particular malignant tumor cell.

These modifications are copious in post-translation mechanism such as cleavage of proenzyme and precursor part of abnormal proteins; phosphorylation activities interfere with biophysical appearance & signaling; hydroxylation changes in H-bonding atmosphere; glycosylation infers to molecular recognitions (or cell-cell recognition) and acetylation alters the binding affinity with DNA.

High throughput proteomics test or tools are available to circumvent some earlier caveats. For instance, advanced tools and techniques of proteomics i.e. two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D PAGE), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI), mass spectroscopy (MS), enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA), can aptly deal with complexities of the proteome arise because most of the proteins appear to be modified.

New bio-engineered proteomics approaches have enabled the analysis of various brain cancer biomarkers. A compendious interpretation of the pertinence of each brain cancer biomarker will be very helpful in detecting the level or variant context of that particular malignant cell.

Research on cancer biomarkers will explore the new ways to get choices related to various therapeutic alternatives. Eventually, it will represent new biological approaches in the upcoming clinical research era or the quick detection of brain cancer.