This article is intended to be an informational piece as part of a multi-article series entitled “All About Brain Cancer” to educate readers about The Basics of Brain Cancer, Progression of Brain Cancer, The Importance of Early Detection, and Living with Brain Cancer. This series was inspired by Shital Neil Shah (born Shital Shantilal Gala) who died at the young age of 31 after fighting brain cancer for 3 years. These articles are dedicated to her husband, friends and family who stood beside her, fought hard, and continued to bring her joy until her very last breath.
Brain Cancer Background and Statistics
Just as with other types of cancer, brain cancer occurs when a cell undergoes a mutation responsible for abnormal cell growth. Brain cancer is associated with cancer located in the any brain components including the brain itself, brain membrane, spinal cord, associated blood vessels, etc. Cancer is not just one blanket disease with a single cause and treatment, causes of cancer can be both environmental and internal factors. A tumor is an uncontrollable growth of un-naturally dividing cells, however not all brain tumors are cancerous. The term “brain cancer” is used only for metastatic brain cancers that can aggressively grow to affect other parts of the body.
In 2010, there were 128,193 United States residents living with invasive, metastatic brain cancer. Of those victims 114,738 were under the age of 33, which indicates the low survival rate of people with brain cancer. According to a Brain Cancer Incidence and Survival study, higher incidence of brain cancer has been shown to occur in populations of Caucasians, males, and metropolitan countries. An estimated 13,110 brain cancer-related deaths and 22,340 new brain cancer diagnoses will occur in the U.S. by the end of 2011. The incidence of brain cancer in the U.S. is approximately 6.5 per every 100,000 people.
Brain Cancer Growth and Development
Just like healthy cells, cancerous cells need nutrients and blood to grow and undergo mitosis. Therefore, blood vessels grow around tumors and feed them to promote growth and avoid apoptosis, however in brain cancer this uncontrolled growth confined by the skull leads to a large increase in intracranial pressure, which can lead to malfunction of surrounding structures of the body such as the brain stem, other parts of the brain, the optic nerve, and more.
The development of fatal brain cancer is most often from a metastatic tumor, in which the brain tumor is categorized as a secondary tumor. This means that the cancer originated in another organ and the cells traveled through the victim’s body via their lymphatic system and/or blood vessels and settled in the brain to grow. Secondary tumors in the brain are extremely common during the terminal phases of a patient’s brain cancer and is often too invasive to surgically remove or completely obliterate via radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The most common types of cancers that lead to secondary brain tumors originate in the colon, lung, breast, and/or kidney.
On Friday, September 16, 2011 Shital Neil Shah (aka Shital Shantilal Gala) died at the young age of 31 after fighting brain cancer since February 2008. She and her family are supporters of the National Brain Tumor Society and appreciate even the smallest donation to help in the fight against brain tumors. You can read more about the great life Shital lived, make donations to support the fight against brain cancer, and learn more about brain cancer research at her brain tumor research donation page.
This article is intended to be an informational piece as part of a multi-article series entitled “All About Brain Cancer” to educate readers about The Basics of Brain Cancer, Progression of Brain Cancer, The Importance of Early Detection, and Living with Brain Cancer. This series was inspired by Shital and is dedicated to her husband, friends and family who stood beside her, fought hard, and continued to bring her joy until her very last breath.
Image 1 via National Cancer Institute
Image 2 via Medinfographics
Sources:
eMedicine Health
National Cancer Institute
SEER
MedScape
Ohio State University
