Symptoms of Brain Cancer

Symptoms of brain cancer are quite variable because each part of the brain has different, specific functions. Therefore, some brain cancer symptoms will vary depending on which part of the brain they involve. The growing tumor can damage normal brain tissue and cause dysfunction of that part of the brain. Whatever the function of that part of the brain is will become dysfunctional. For example, a cancer growing in the part of the brain that is responsible for movement of the opposite side of the body (called the motor cortex) can cause weakness or paralysis in part of the body on the opposite side.

However, in addition, there are some common general symptoms of brain cancer that occur frequently in many patients. Below, many of these common symptoms of brain cancer as well as some of the more common specific symptoms that are caused by damage to specific parts of the brain are discussed.

Some Common Symptoms of Brain Cancer

Headache: Headache is a common symptom and most headaches do not mean that you have brain cancer or any other brain tumor. However, of people who do have a brain tumor, headache is a very common symptom.

Headaches caused by a brain tumor can vary in their character. Their location, frequency, and severity can all vary. However, many people with headaches caused by brain tumors say that the headache is worst in the morning or during the night and awakes them from sleep. This is because the pain is typically due to pressure in the head. When we sleep, we normally hypoventilate, which means we breath slower and less deeply. This causes the blood vessels in the brain to dilate, letting more blood into the brain. If someone has a brain tumor, this additional blood in the brain can cause the pressure in the head to rise to point of causing pain, a headache. These headaches typically get better once the person is upright and awake.

Nausea and Vomiting: Pressure on the brain from a brain tumor can irritate the centers in the brain stem that control the sense of nausea and the act of vomiting. Patients may complain of nausea or vomiting that do not seem to be initiated by other illness (such as a flu or food poisoning) and is not related to diet or meals.

Seizures: While there are many different causes of seizures, they are one of the common symptoms of brain cancer. The tumor causes injury and irritation to parts of the brain that sets off uncontrollable rhythmic electrical activity in the brain, a seizure. Not all seizures cause muscular convulsions, although this type of seizure is common. It is generally said that if an adult, who does not have a prior history of seizures, has a seizure for the first time, it is very likely that a brain tumor is to blame. Any person experience new seizures should be evaluated by a medical professional.

Other Symptoms of Brain Cancer

Muscle Weakness or Paralysis: The motor cortex, the part of the surface of the brain that controls the muscles of the body, as well as the long tracts of fibers carrying motor information to the spinal cord and muscles traverse a large area of the brain. Therefore, it is not uncommon for tumors in the brain to injury or cause pressure on these structures and cause weakness or paralysis in a part of the body. In the brain, the left side controls the muscles of the right side of the body, and visa versa. So muscle weakness on one side is caused by a tumor on the opposite side. Of note, there are many other diseases that can commonly cause muscle weakness or paralysis including stroke, spinal disease, peripheral neuropathy, myopathy and others.

Changes in Vision: The structures in the brain important for vision traverse a wide area in the brain. The visual information is carried all the way from the eyes to the far back of the brain, the visual cortex in the occipital lobe. Therefore, there are many points along this route that a brain tumor can cause injury put pressure on these long fibers. Tumors near the skull base can commonly compress the optic nerves coming from the eyes, the optic chiasm (a structure of crossing nerve fibers from the eyes), and optic tract. Likewise, tumors in the brain can originate in the optic nerves or optic chiasm. They can also begin in the posterior temporal, parietal and occipital lobes, all of which have either visual cortex or fiber tracts carrying visual information from the eyes.

Damage to the visual structures in the brain can cause various changes in vision. The visual acuity (sharpness of vision) can be impaired. The visual fields can be impaired, leaving a blind spot or spots in the patients vision. Other more subtle visual symptoms of brain cancer can be caused by injury to the visual cortex at the back of the brain.

Hydrocephalus: Hydrocephalus is a condition in which the fluid in and around the brain, the cerebrospinal fluid, builds up and does not circulate normally. Some tumors in the brain can obstruct the flow of this fluid and cause hydrocephalus. As the fluid pressure builds up in the head, symptoms such as headache, nausea and vomiting, lethargy and deteriorating level of consciousness can all get progressively worse. Prolonged hydrocephalus can also cause pressure on structures that cause visual loss (typically blurring of vision) and can occasionally cause problems moving one or both of the eyes to the side (called a 6th cranial nerve palsy).

Other Neurological Symptoms: Many other neurological symptoms can be caused by brain tumors, depending on where the tumor occurs in the nervous system. These can include, but are not limited to, hearing loss, facial weakness or numbness, tongue weakness, speech or language problems, memory loss, mood or personality changes, numbness, tremor, lethargy and coma.