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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
A brain tumor is a mass or growth of abnormal cells in your brain.
Many different types of brain tumors exist. Some brain tumors are noncancerous (benign), and some brain tumors are cancerous (malignant). Brain tumors can begin in your brain (primary brain tumors), or cancer can begin in other parts of your body and spread to your brain (secondary, or metastatic brain tumors).
Brain tumor treatment options depend on the type of brain tumor you have, as well its size and location.
- 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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