A Primer on Brain Tumor Disorder: Causes, Symptoms, and Current Research/ by: Gabby Laweskf

A Primer on Brain Tumor Disorder: Causes, Symptoms, and Current Research

Introduction

In the world of brain tumors, it is one of the rare Neurological disorders that occur in less than 1.4% of cases around the world. A brain tumor is a mass of abnormal growth of cells within the brain or near the brain’s walls that can develop in any part of the brain or skull. Brain tumors are important in medical research becuase it can help indicate/ aleter individuals and help them understand what’s wrong with their body at an early or late stage of their life, why a person can go their entire life without knowing they have a brain tumor growing within the brain wall that can affect different parts of our brain, mostly putting pressure on the healthy parts of our brain while also affrcting the spain in the process.

Full Overview

Causes

According to Hopkins Medicine, the cause of brain tumors is still unknown, but some say it may be the result of a person’s genes or exposure to a bad environment. Some potential brain tumor causes may include:

  • Exposure to some form of toxic radiation.
  • Certain genetic conditions.
  • Cancers that spread from other parts of the body.

Brain tumors originate from genetic alterations in cells within or surrounding brain tissue. Normally, a cell’s DNA functions as a set of instructions governing its growth and life cycle. However, genetic mutations signal these abnormal cells to replicate rapidly and bypass programmed cell death. This leads to an accumulation of surplus cells, also known as a tumor, that can infiltrate and damage healthy tissue. As according to Hopkins Medicine, the exact underlying causes of brain tumors remain unclear, and investigation into this topic is Ongoing.

Symptoms

A brain tumor’s symptoms depend on how large the tumor is, how fast it grows, and where it is located in the brain. Since the skull is a hard, enclosed space, a growing tumor quickly runs out of room, pushing against healthy brain tissue and causing various health issues.

Headaches are the most common symptoms of a brain tumor, occurring in 50% of patients. As the tumor expands, it creates intense pressure on surrounding cells, causing headaches that gradually expand over time. These headaches often follow a specific pattern: they are usually at their worst right when a person wakes up in the morning due to pressure building up while lying down overnight, but ease up by midday once the person is up and moving around.

A major challenge with brain tumors is that their early symptoms usually appear slowly and feel like everyday problems like tension, stomach bugs, or fatigue, but over time these symptoms start to get intense. This includes:

  • Vomiting and nausea.
  • Loss of coordination.
  • Increased pressure in the skull.
  • Damage to vital tissue.
  • Swelling and fluid buildup.

Diagnosis

A diagnosis of brain tumor process often begins with a medical history review to evaluate the patient’s symptoms, past illnesses, and health habits. Next, a doctor performs a neurological examination to assess core nervous system functions, including reflexes, coordination, mental alertness, muscle strength, and vision. To confirm a diagnosis, advanced imaging is required. Physicians commonly use CT (computed tomography) scans to create cross-section image of the brain. Additionally, MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) utilizes strong magnetic fields, radio waves, and computer technology to produce high-resolution pictures that show the exact size and location of the tumor.

Treatments

Managing a brain tumor depends heavily on individual factors like the tumor’s size, location, and type, alongside the patient’s age and overall health. Before primary treatments begin, doctors often prescribe medications like corticosteroids to reduce brain swelling and anticonvulsants to control or prevent seizures.

Whenever feasible, surgery is the preferred first step to remove as much of the tumor as possible; even partial removal helps relieve pressure and ease symptoms. When tumors are too deep or risk damaging critical brain regions, surgeons can use stereotactic surgery—computerized 3D imaging that pinpoints precise boundaries to remove tissue safely. Post-surgery, or when an operation is too risky, high-powered X-ray radiation therapy is used to target remaining cancer cells. Advanced precision tools like Gamma Knife and CyberKnife, as well as internal radioactive implants, help focus radiation directly on the tumor to protect healthy brain tissue. Finally, systemic options such as oral or intravenous chemotherapy, along with targeted immunotherapy for cases like progressive glioblastoma, are used to halt cancer cell growth.

Current Research

Current research by Mayo Clinic as of May 2026, Mayo Clinic researchers across Rochester, Arizona, and Florida are trying to advance the understanding of brain tumor biology and how they occur within the brain and skull to improve diagnostic precision as researchers develop new treatments to support patients’ health. While utilizing DNA methylation profiling alongside advanced molecular diagnostics, Mayo Clinic investigators evaluated tumor specimens from a landmark clinical trial to refine the understanding of meningioma biology. Their findings indicate that standard histopathological grading under microscopic examination may overlook critical higher-risk tumor features.

Awareness Matters

Spreading awareness about brain tumors can help educate people about themselves and what’s happening within their brain while also engaging in lessons about tumors to better grasp what a brain tumor is, its causes, symptoms, and treatments that can help if an individual is diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Spreading awareness can also help advocate for the challenges patients face who are diagnosed with a brain tumor, which can be severe and deadly to an individual. Some challenges a person can face are that they are less likely to live independently as a person, especially for children who are in school, who might face academic struggles, recovering the balance needed to move, and emotional regulation.

Doing research, advocating, or supporting about awareness of brain tumors is important because it helps people with early detection for those who are experiencing symptoms of a brain tumor but lack the understanding of a brain tumor, which will help the outcome of treatments.

In conclusion, a brain tumor is the growth of many cells that will eventually turn into a brain tumor that will spread around the healthy tissues of the brain and skull, which can cause intense pressure on the brain that can lead to common symptoms of a brain tumor, which are headaches that can range from severe to deadly headaches as time gradually increases, other symptoms of brain tumors are loss of coordination, vomiting, loss of vision, and seizures.

Sources

  1. Brain tumor overview. (2026, March 7). Harvard Health; Harvard Health.
    https://www.health.harvard.edu/cancer/brain-tumor-overview-a-to-z
  2. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (2024, February 14). HopkinsMedicine.
    https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/brain-tumor/brain-tumor-treatment
  3. Mayo Clinic. (2023). Brain tumor - symptoms and causes. In Mayo Clinic.
    https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/brain-tumor/symptoms-causes/syc-20350084
  4. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (2026b). HopkinsMedicine.
    https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/brain-tumor#cause

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