Brain cancer is a disease of the brain in which a collection of damaged cells--called brain tumors--grows and multiplies out of control. Any abnormal growth of tissues located within the central nervous system can put pressure on nearby nerve roots, causing severe pain and interrupting nervous system functions.
“A primary malignant tumor is one that originates in the brain itself,” according to the University of Maryland, Medical Center or UMMC. A secondary malignant brain tumor occurs from other parts of the body. The exact causes of primary brain tumors are unknown, so the best ways to prevent tumors are to live a healthy lifestyle and to look at factors that may put you at risk.
In small numbers of people, primary brain tumors can develop through a complex series of molecular and cellular mutations, or from high exposure to a number of metals and chemicals, notes the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke or NINDS.
Environmental Factors
Environmental factors may cause brain tumors. For example, exposure to vinyl chloride is a clearly established environmental risk factor for brain cancer. A major cause of childhood cancer is the therapeutic radiation exposure to the head, according to the American Cancer Society.
Previously, children were sometimes treated with low-dose radiation therapy for chronic inflammation of the scalp--a fungal infection--which substantially increased their risk of radiation-induced brain tumors. “Today, most radiation-induced brain tumors are caused by radiation to the head for the treatment of other cancers,” adds the American Cancer Society.
Immune System Disorders
Patients with immune system abnormalities are susceptible to the risk of developing central nervous system lymphoma, which is a rare brain cancer. The cancerous cells are lymphocytes, a type of circulating white blood cells. Lymphomas are the malignant tumors of lymphoid tissue found normally in the lymph nodes, which are a small rounded mass of lymphocytes.
Primary lymphoma arises from the central nervous system, while secondary lymphoma originates outside the brain, notes the American Cancer Society. The symptoms that bring the disease to a physician’s attention include neurological disorders such as loss of vision, muscle weakness and mood alterations.
Cell Phone Use
There has been a great deal of debate and speculation regarding the use of cell phones and brain cancer. Cell phones emit low levels of radio-frequency signals, any of the electromagnetic wave frequencies that lie in the range extending from below 3 kilohertz to about 300 gigahertz.
Cell phones do not emit ionizing radiation--a radioactive carcinogen whose alpha particle alters DNA in cells and is a clearly established risk factor for brain cancer--according to The American Cancer Society. However, there are still some concerns because the in-built antennas of cell phones can deliver large amounts of radiation energy to very small areas of the human body.
