Brain Tumor Symptoms: Do They Mean Cancer?

The diagnosis and treatment of a brain tumor can be very complex, and many patients can feel overwhelmed when first diagnosed with having a brain tumor.

Franciscan Health neurosurgeon Kushal J. Shah, MD, talks about the different types of brain tumors, signs and symptoms to watch out for and how brain tumors are treated.

Key Takeaways: Brain Tumor Symptoms & Cancer

• Brain tumors can be benign or malignant and may originate in the brain or spread from other parts of the body.
• Common symptoms include headaches, vision changes, speech difficulties, balance issues and seizures.
• Diagnosis often involves neurological exams, MRIs, and CT scans to determine tumor type and location.
• Treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, depending on the tumor’s nature and progression.

What Is A Brain Tumor?

“A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of cells that occurs in the brain or outside of the brain,” said Dr. Shah, an independent physician who chooses to practice at Franciscan Health Indianapolis. “Sometimes they're benign. Other times they are cancerous or malignant, and we don't always really know why they occur, but this growth of cells is ultimately what is the tumor.”

What Are The Types Of Brain Tumors?

Types of brain tumors a person could be diagnosed with include:

• A primary brain tumor, or a brain tumor that starts in the brain
• A secondary brain tumor is one that has spread to the brain from elsewhere. “Say for example, a patient with breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer that has spread to the brain, that's a secondary brain tumor,” Dr. Shah said.
• Benign means the tumor is not cancerous
• Malignant means the cancer is cancerous

“How we treat these tumors is also vastly different,” Dr. Shah said. “A malignant or cancerous brain tumor many times needs surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. A benign or non-cancerous brain tumor can sometimes be observed or may just need surgery for the treatment.”

What The Common Signs And Symptoms Of Brain Tumors?

“Many times, the symptoms can be vague and subtle,” Dr. Shah said. “A lot of times patients will present with headaches, which is obviously a common symptom, and definitely everyone who has a headache does not have a brain tumor. Most people who have a headache don't have a brain tumor. When they also have some other signs or symptoms, specifically neurologic signs or symptoms, then we start to worry that there could be a brain tumor going on.”

Symptoms of brain tumors can include:

• Weakness
• Changes in gait
• Difficulty walking
• Balance issues
• Speech difficulties
• Vision changes
• Stroke-like symptoms
• Seizures

“If someone's got headaches, and one of those symptoms, or just one of those other symptoms, specifically something that has changed over time, then that's a reason to be suspicious that we could be dealing with a brain tumor,” Dr. Shah said. 

Some brain tumors can exist but do not have symptoms.

“Many times, especially today, as we are getting more and more MRIs, we find these benign brain tumors, meaning they don't actually cause any symptoms, and they were discovered because they were looking for something else,” Dr. Shah said.

What Should I Do If I’m Having Symptoms?

Your primary care doctor is the first person to talk with about possible symptoms of a brain tumor.

“Obviously getting a diagnosis of a brain tumor can be very scary and anxiety provoking,” Dr. Shah said. “A lot of times people are scared and therefore don't seek out attention to this problem, which sometimes is worse because it, getting an earlier diagnosis allows that patient to get all the best treatments as quickly and expedited as possible.”

Your doctor could order imaging tests like an MRI for an appropriate diagnosis.

"It really depends on where it's located, but with some symptoms that are related specifically to location, then it's worth talking to the primary care provider to figure out, 'Do I need an MRI?' and that will ultimately make the diagnosis if someone has a brain tumor or not."

How Are Brain Tumors Treated?

The type of brain tumor can impact the way the tumor is treated.

“It's a complex question that has to be looked at case by case for every patient,” Dr. Shah said. “For me, the type of brain tumor it is, the type of cancerous brain tumor it is, whether it is primary starting in the brain or secondary spread from elsewhere, the symptoms that the patient has, the size that they have of their tumor, and also if they have some other type of cancer. How is that? Is it something that is very well treated and controlled, or is it something that appears to be growing despite the treatments? All of those factors are taken into consideration when determining the best treatment course for that individual.”

Other treatment options after surgery include:

• Biopsies
• Chemotherapy
• Radiation
• Clinical trials for oncologic treatments and radiation treatments
• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Speech therapy

For some cases, like a common benign brain tumor called a meningioma, the treatment can be observation to see if the tumor is changing or growing in a negative way.