Why are some brain tumors so big when they are discovered?

Why are some brain tumors so big when they are discovered?

Why was there a big brain tumor when I had no symptoms before?  Recently, a Chinese doctor met a 43-year-old male patient in an outpatient clinic. The patient came to see a doctor because he felt numbness in one limb in the last two or three days. After an MRI examination, he found a large tumor, a benign meningeal membrane. tumor.

01. Why is there a big brain tumor when there are no symptoms before?

This patient has been asymptomatic, and a large meningioma was detected after symptoms appeared in the past few days. What is going on?

In fact, we often encounter such patients in clinical practice. Brain tumors are already very big when they are discovered, and they are often benign tumors. Why does the patient come to see the doctor when he grows so old? Why does the patient have no obvious symptoms when he is so old?

Chinese doctors explain this: This is because benign tumors grow very slowly, and our brains have a process of self-adaptation, slowly adapting to this pressure. However, the ability of our brain to be compressed is like a balloon. It has a limit. When this limit is exceeded, the brain can no longer bear it, and only then will there be obvious symptoms.

Like the patient I met in the clinic, his meningioma is a common benign brain tumor. Under normal circumstances, meningiomas grow in a spherical shape with a clear boundary with brain tissue. Tumors are mostly spherical, flat or dumbbell-shaped. Benign meningiomas grow very slowly. In the early stage, when the tumor is still small, the symptoms are not serious and it is difficult for the patient to detect it. Its early symptoms are about 2.5 years old and up to 6 years old. When symptoms appear, the tumor is often already very large. The growing tumor will gradually squeeze the surrounding brain tissue, causing the patient to appear Corresponding symptoms.

02. If a brain tumor is discovered accidentally, but no symptoms have occurred, should I be treated at this time?

In principle, the best way to treat benign tumors is surgical resection, which may be cured. For asymptomatic meningiomas, we are faced with a choice, whether or not to have surgery.

There is a principle here, depending on the age of the patient.

If the patient is very young, for example, in his 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, or even his 60s, surgery is recommended in principle, because people now live very long lives. If you let them grow, it must be It will continue to grow, so in principle, surgery is required.

But the patient is eighty years old and there are no symptoms of meningiomas, so it should be recommended to live with the tumor.

There is another option. For example, the patient is in his forties. A small meningioma is unwilling to undergo surgery and wants to be treated with radiation. However, radiation therapy is not the best choice for meningioma, it is the second choice. Radiation therapy may cause radiation brain edema. Once radiation brain edema occurs, it is much more difficult to deal with than tumor surgery.

Therefore, in principle: the age is not too large, surgery is still required if there are no contraindications to surgery, of course this is when there are no symptoms.

If you have symptoms, you must have surgery. For example, sellar tuber meningioma, which affects vision; parietal lobe meningioma, which affects the limbs; pontine cerebellar angle meningioma, which affects hearing. All of these must be operated on and there is no discussion. room.

(source:chinanet, reference only)

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