The underlying effects of brain effects of brain tumorRecent advancements in the surgical and radiation fields have considerably increased the average survival time of the patient with brain tumor. These treatments have in fact helped greatly in reducing the growth and the size of the brain tumors.

The survival rate of people with brain tumor

The rate of survival of the people who are already found to have brain cancer is dependent on many factors. Some of which include the following:

  • The type of the brain cancer. Some of the brain tumors are more aggressive compared to othershence different types of the tumors give the patients different survival rates some of the common types include astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma, or ependymoma.
  • The location and the size of the tumor. This will determine whether or not the tumor can be surgically removed. If the tumor can be removed surgically, then the patient can survive but if not then survival rate will decrease.
  • The tumor grade malignant brain tumors are classified according to stages grade 1 is the least cancerous while grade 3 and 4 are the most cancerous. Grading the tumor can help the surgeons predict the growth rate and the spread of the brain tumor. The grading of the brain tumor is based on the appearance of the tumor cells under a microscope. The lower grade tumor cells are defined and almost normal looking, some of them are curable by surgery alone while other are curable by surgery and radio therapy. They have the highest survival rate. However, this is not the case for all the lower grade tumors since some show very high rates of progression. The higher grade tumors are more abnormal looking and are more diffuse hence they indicate a more aggressive behavior. The higher grade tumors usually require surgery, chemotherapy, radio therapy and in some cases they require investigational treatment.

Other factors include the age of the patient, the patient ability to function, how far the tumor has spread. However, patients with some types of brain tumor usually have good survival rates e.g.  Patients with epindymoma have 86% chance of survival for the people between the age of 20-44 years and 69% survival rate for the patient between the ages of 55-64. Glioblastoma multi forme has the worst survival rates with only 14 % of the people between the age 20 -44 surviving and a mere 1% of the people between the ages of 55-64.

Specific effect of tumors on function

Brain tumors can cause seizures, mental change, mood personality and emotional changes. They may also impair the function of hearing, vision, speech and other neurological functions. Such effects may be very difficult for the patients and the caretaker. There is treatment that can help alleviate these tumors. The patients are allowed to discuss the options with their family members.

Due to the advancement in the technology sector there has been an increase in the survival rate among the children. At least 75 % of the children survive for more than 5 years after being diagnosed with the tumor. However, the survivors run the risk of having future neurological problems. The parents should make sure that the children get good care and support services in their schools.