Brain tumours pose a considerable health challenge worldwide, with India alone reporting approximately 33,000 new cases annually, predominantly impacting individuals aged 35 to 65. Despite the widespread fear and misunderstanding surrounding these conditions, not all brain tumours are cancerous, doctors tell ARCHANA JYOTI
As per the WHO, approximately 33,000 new incidents of brain tumours are detected each year in India alone and more than 60 per cent of these affected patients are in the prime of their life between the age of 35 and 65 years.
A brain tumour is an abnormal growth of cells in or around your brain. Spinal tumours and brain tumours are together called central nervous system (CNS) tumourss. Brain tumours can be cancerous or noncancerous. Some tumourss grow quickly, while others are slow-growing.
However, brain tumours are most feared and less-understood entities. It is a misconception that all brain tumours are cancerous.
Almost 50% of brain tumours are benign and can be cured with surgery or radiosurgery.
But brain tumours are dangerous because they can put pressure on healthy parts of the brain or spread into those areas.
No doubt, prevention of brain tumours is challenging, as most cases are not associated with identifiable risk factors.
There are 120 types of brain and central nervous system tumours. It is ranked as 10th most common kind of tumour among Indians
The least aggressive type of tumours grows slowly while malignant tumours, containing cancer cells, grow rapidly invading other body systems. Its myth that only adults get tumours. Pediatric brain tumours are common, second most common cancer in children after blood cancer.
While the cause of brain tumours is not known, as per research, exposure to ionising radiation from therapeutic and diagnostic medical procedures, atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, industrial accidents, and heavy use of mobile phones also increases the risk of gliomas - a type of brain tumour.
Brain tumours impact brain function and health if they grow large enough to press on surrounding nerves, blood vessels and tissue. Tumours that develop in the brain are called primary tumours while tumours that spread to the brain after forming in a different part of the body are called secondary tumours, or metastatic brain tumours.
Diagnosing a brain tumour typically involves a combination of neurological examinations, imaging tests such as MRI and CT scans, and biopsy for tissue analysis, say doctors..
Symptoms
The symptoms of brain tumour depend on the size and location of the brain tumour. Brain cancer shares many symptoms with several less serious conditions, especially in the early stages. Many of the symptoms are common and unlikely to indicate brain cancer.
Brain tumour symptoms are similar regardless of whether they are cancerous (malignant) or noncancerous (benign). They differ depending on the type, location in the brain, and the stage of the tumour.
Some of the most common symptoms include:
- Headache episodes
- Seizures
- Vision problems
- Memory loss
- Mood changes
- Loss of balance
- Nausea
- Fatigue
- Anxiety or depression
- Difficulty concentrating
- Speech problems
- Feeling confused or disoriented
- Loss of coordination
- Muscle weakness
- Tingling or stiffness on one side of the body
The prognosis for brain tumour is greatly improved by early detection. If one experiences any of the above symptoms with regularity or think that their symptoms are more significant, they need to see a doctor as soon as possible for an evaluation, as per health experts.
Brazil, Indian scientists collaborate on research to create promising treatment for solid tumours
An article published in the Journal of Controlled Release details the results of a cross-border scientific collaboration that has developed an alternative for the treatment of solid tumours based on inhibition of the inflammatory tumour microenvironment (TME).
Solid tumours are difficult to treat, partly owing to cells and substances in the TME that prevent drugs from penetrating and stop the patient’s own immune system from combating the tumor. “These cells and molecules often fuel the growth of the tumour, which escapes immune surveillance,” said Lucia Helena Faccioli, a co-author of the article. She is professor at the University of Sao Paulo’s Ribeirao Preto School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCFRP-USP) in Brazil and heads the Center of Excellence for Quantification and Identification of Lipids (CEQIL), established with FAPESP’s support via its Multiuser Equipment Program.
“Immune cells that promote and inhibit tumors tend to be always in a tug-of-war in the TME, where metabolites, lipid mediators, cytokines and chemokines play an important role in the dominance of immunosuppressive nature,” the article states.
The team developed nanomicelles (very small particles, measuring between 1 and 100 nanometers) comprising different substances and for this reason termed chimeric. The chimeric nanomicelles were composed of phospholipids, docetaxel (DTX), a chemotherapy medication that destroys tumor cells, and dexamethasone (DEX), an anti-inflammatory drug widely used to reduce production of various inflammatory substances, such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2).
Tests in laboratory animals showed that these DTX-DEX NMs were highly effective when administered intravenously, reducing tumor size and increasing survival. Untreated animals always died aged 28-30 days, while treated animals survived to age 44-50 days, according to Faccioli.
“The treatment induced a reduction of more than five times in tumour volume compared with untreated tumours in the colon cancer model,” Bajaj said. The nanomicelles reduced and altered the cells around the tumor that prevent action by the immune system, favored an increase in specific types of white blood cell that kill tumour cells, and inhibited secretion of PGE2, an inflammatory substance in the tumor microenvironment that interferes with the anti-tumour action of certain defense cells.
“Although these studies involved animals, the results are highly promising and point to the possibility of studies in humans, as the compounds used in the nanomicelles have been approved for human use,” said Faccioli, who conducted postdoctoral research at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London (UK).
The other co-authors of the study include Viviani Nardini, a researcher in FCFRP-USP’s Department of Clinical, Toxicological and Bromatological Analysis, and scientists affiliated with Indian institutions, led by Avinash Bajaj, head of the Nanotechnology and Biological Chemistry Laboratory at the Regional Center for Biotechnology in Faridabad, Haryana.
Besides USP and Bajaj’s lab, Amity Institute of Integrative Sciences and Health (Haryana), the Department of Surgical Oncology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Delhi), the National Institute of Immunology (Delhi) and the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (Kalyani, West Bengal) also took part in the research.
