Doctors reveal subtle symptoms that could mean you have brain cancer – and pinpoint the changes that could reveal the POSITION of the tumour
Medics have not only revealed the subtle signs of brain cancer but also which symptoms could indicate exactly where a tumour may be growing inside your skull.
Cancerous brain tumours are the deadliest form of the disease for children and adults under 40 in Britain — claiming 5,300 lives every year, about 15 every day.
Even benign brain tumours, which unlike cancerous ones don’t spread to other parts of the body, can still be deadly as they grow within the sensitive tissue of the organ.
Dr Romina Dibra, from healthtech company myTomorrows, said many brain tumour symptoms are caused by the growth increasing pressure inside the skull.
‘As the skull is made of bone, a growing tumour will increase the pressure inside the skull – this is known as intracranial pressure,’ she said.
This pressure can lead to issues like headaches, drowsiness, vomiting and vision problems.
While Dr Dibra said not every incidence of these problems will be a sign of a brain tumour, she added that people should pay attention to how and when they occur.
She warned that anyone experiencing a headache combined with vomiting or nausea or with blind spots or flashes of light, a headache so painful it wakes them up at night or headaches that are getting worse over a few weeks, should see their GP.
Dr Romina Dibra, from healthtech company myTomorrows, said many of the common symptoms of brain tumours were were caused by increasing pressure in the skull. Stock image
Eyesight problems, such as not being able to see out of the corner of your eye, blurred vision or floating shapes are another potential sign of a growing brain tumour.
Dr Dibra added that intracranial pressure can also lower blood supply to the skull which can make people feel drowsy or lose consciousness.
Nausea and vomiting were another potential symptom, but Dr Dibra said it was rare for brain tumours to trigger this on its own without other signs.
The final symptom Dr Dibra highlighted was seizures or fits, a sudden burst of electrical activity in the brain that cause people to jerk and shake uncontrollably,
She said such events were very common among brain tumour patients, occuring in four out of five people.
While these symptoms can occur in many types of brain tumours Dr Dibra also revealed other signs that could indicate where exactly a tumour is growing.
A growth in the frontal lobe, a part of the brain that governs movement and personality, could manifest as walking difficulties, weakness on one side or sudden personality changes, she said.
On the other hand, a tumour in the parietal lobe, a region of the brain that helps process information, could create difficulties with talking, reading or writing.
Meanwhile a growth in the temporal lobe, which governs our memory and ability to translate sound into information, can trigger short-term memory loss and hearing difficulties.
Lastly, a tumour in the occipital lobe, the part of the brain responsible for processing visual information, can lead to changes in eyesight or difficulty identifying the colours or size of objects.
Dr Dibra said a patient experiencing any of the above symptoms should contact their GP for advice and potential tests and referrals.
While many of these problems are unlikely to be cancer, the early the disease is spotted, the easier it is to treat, so it’s important to get it checked.
Treatment options for brain cancers vary depending on factors like what type of tumour it is, when it was found and its precise location in the brain.
Surgery is often considered the first treatment option followed by radiotherapy to eliminate any remaining traces of cancer, with this sometimes being combined with chemotherapy depending on the patient.
Dr Dibra added that medics will sometimes prescribe steroids to reduce pressure on the skull as well as anti-epileptic drugs to combat seizures prior to an operation.
The Wanted star Tom Parker died in March 2022 following a year-and-a-half long battle with glioblastoma aged just 33 (pictured in December 2021)
The disease, which is the most common type of cancerous brain tumour in adults, also killed the Labour politician Dame Tessa Jowell in 2018.
Over 12,000 patients in Britain are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year, with about half of these cases being cancerous.
Glioblastomas, one of the deadliest types of brain tumour, have been highlighted in recent years after killing a number of famous faces.
The disease, which is the most common type of cancerous brain tumour in adults, killed the Labour politician Dame Tessa Jowell in 2018.
And in March 2022, The Wanted singer Tom Parker died following an 18-month battle with the cancer.
