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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffThough doctors aren't sure what causes the genetic mutations that can lead to primary brain tumors, they've identified factors that may increase your risk of a brain tumor. Risk factors include:
- Your race. Brain tumors occur more frequently in whites than they do in people of other races. One exception is meningioma, which occurs most frequently in blacks.
- Your age. Your risk of a brain tumor increases as you age. Brain tumors are most common in older adults. However, a brain tumor can occur at any age. And certain types of brain tumors, such as medulloblastomas, occur almost exclusively in children.
- Exposure to radiation. People who have been exposed to a type of radiation called ionizing radiation have an increased risk of brain tumor. Examples of ionizing radiation include radiation therapy used to treat cancer and radiation exposure caused by atomic bombs. More common forms of radiation, such as electromagnetic fields from power lines and radiofrequency radiation from cell phones and microwave ovens, have not been proved to be linked to brain tumors.
- Chemical exposure on the job. People working in certain industries may have an increased risk of brain tumors, possibly because of the chemicals they're exposed to on the job.
- Family history of brain tumors. A small portion of brain tumors occur in people with a family history of brain tumors or a family history of genetic syndromes that increase the risk of brain tumors.
References
- What you need to know about brain tumors. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/brain/allpages/print. Accessed March 28, 2010.
- Adult brain tumors treatment (PDQ): Health professional version. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/adultbrain/healthprofessional/allpages/print. Accessed March 28, 2010.
- Brain tumor. Cancer.Net. http://www.cancer.net/patient/Cancer+Types/Brain+Tumor/ci.Brain+Tumor.printer. Accessed March 28, 2010.
- Giglio P, et al. Cancer and the nervous system: Clinical features and complications. In: Bradley WG, et al. Neurology in Clinical Practice. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Butterworth-Heinemann; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7506-7525-3..50079-0--cesec16&uniq=191848000&isbn=978-0-7506-7525-3&sid=975203179#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-75067525-3..X5001-8--TOP%3Bfrom%3Dcontent%3Bisbn%3D978-0-7506-75253%3Btype%3DbookHome. Accessed March 28, 2010.
- Childhood brain and spinal cord tumors treatment overview (PDQ): Health professional version. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/childbrain/healthprofessional/allpages/print. Accessed March 28, 2010.
- Maity A, et al. Cancer of the central nervous system. In: Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2008:1075.
- Armstrong TS, et al. Use of complementary and alternative medical therapy by patients with primary brain tumors. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports. 2008;8:264.
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