Glioma causes

Written by Gao Yi Shen
Neurosurgery
Updated on September 08, 2024
00:00
00:00

In clinical practice, the etiology of gliomas is not very clear. It is not as straightforward as how smoking can easily lead to lung cancer or how cirrhosis can easily lead to liver cancer; many factors are speculative. For example, the most common theory in clinical practice involves genetics. Any form of genetic mutation or chromosomal mutation can induce the development of a glioma. For instance, excessive radiation exposure and drug abuse, and even maternal-fetal transmission or a genetic predisposition, could cause chromosomal abnormalities in patients, potentially leading to the formation of gliomas. However, the most fundamental cause has not yet been clearly identified.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Jiang Fang Shuai
Neurosurgery
46sec home-news-image

Glioma Causes

Gliomas are common intracranial primary tumors, with astrocytoma being the most prevalent, followed by oligodendroglioma, medulloblastoma, glioblastoma, ependymoma, etc. The causes of gliomas are very complex and are still unclear to this day. The prevailing view is that the development of gliomas results from the combined effects of internal carcinogenic genes and external carcinogenic factors. Changes in carcinogenic genes include gene mutation deletions, proto-oncogene activation, and so on. External factors mainly include radiation from X-rays, smoking, drinking, and some toxic and harmful foods and medications, etc.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Gao Yi Shen
Neurosurgery
50sec home-news-image

Is a glioma benign or malignant?

Glioblastoma is the most common form of malignant tumor inside the skull, and the vast majority of glioblastomas are highly malignant. Once changes in this condition are detected, generally, the patient doesn't have much time left. If it is a relatively better glioblastoma, which means it is highly differentiated, the survival time is about 1-2 years. For some poorer glioblastomas, or those with low differentiation, their survival period is often only about six months, and they continuously spread along with nerve fibers to the surrounding areas. They might even metastasize to distant places through cerebrospinal fluid, blood, lymph, and other means. Therefore, even if surgery is used to remove a single lesion, other parts of the body may still demonstrate metastatic lesions. Hence, the treatment approach for this is comprehensive.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Gao Yi Shen
Neurosurgery
54sec home-news-image

Glioma Symptoms

The symptoms of glioma are numerous, and it is essential to make judgments based on the situation. The most common clinical manifestations are headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. These symptoms may persist for a relatively long period and are relatively mild, not immediately noticeable at the time. Additionally, some patients may experience a decline in cognitive function, colloquially described as becoming less intelligent. This is especially common in gliomas of the frontal lobe. If the glioma is located in the occipital lobe, it often causes visual disturbances, such as blurred vision and visual field defects. In cases of temporal lobe gliomas, frequent seizures and impaired limb mobility may occur. For cerebellar gliomas, symptoms can include a decline in cognitive function and ataxia, among others.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
49sec home-news-image

Early symptoms of glioma

For patients with glioma, in the early stages of the disease, symptoms often manifest as mild headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. The symptoms are usually mild and tolerable for patients, and most patients do not pay enough attention, which can easily lead to missed and misdiagnosis. However, as the tumor volume increases, the patient's symptoms of headache, dizziness, and other discomforts gradually worsen, and may even show episodic outbreaks and a persistent worsening state. In addition to headaches and dizziness, some patients also exhibit significant motor dysfunction, exhibiting symptoms such as hemiplegia and aphasia. Patients with severe conditions may even experience widespread intracranial pressure increase, and life-threatening conditions due to the induction of brain herniation.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
53sec home-news-image

Is glioma a terminal illness?

Glioblastoma is not an incurable disease. Patients with glioblastoma have a type of malignant tumor that tends to grow rapidly. These tumors often adhere to surrounding brain tissue in the early stages, making complete surgical removal difficult. If any glioma cells remain after surgery, the tumor tissue will gradually grow over time. Thus, patients with glioblastoma are prone to recurrence, but it is not an incurable disease. If early detection and surgical removal can be achieved, and supplemented by radiotherapy and chemotherapy, it can maximize the therapeutic effects of the surgery, thereby effectively improving the prognosis and delaying the progression of the disease. This approach can relatively extend the patient's lifespan, and some patients may even achieve long-term survival.