The National Foundation for Cancer Research claims that around 32 percent of the over 80,000 brain tumors detected in the United States each year are malignant – or cancerous.

In general, a person’s lifetime risk of developing a malignant tumor of the brain or spinal cord is less than 1 percent. 

However, according to Cancer.net, an estimated 25,050 individuals in the U.S. (14,170 men and 10,880 women) will be diagnosed with primary malignant tumors of the brain and spinal cord this year.

Dr. Michael McDermott, neurosurgeon and chief medical executive of Miami Neuroscience Institute, says that most tumors aren’t detected until symptoms occur.

Warning signs of Brain Tumor to watch out for.

According to the doctor, if your headache “is persistent over five days, increasing in severity/duration and associated with nausea, vomiting and worse in the morning than in the evening” you must see your doctor.

It could be a meningioma, a tumor that develops in the meninges, which are the tissue layers that surround the brain and spinal cord. Although a meningioma is technically not a brain tumor since it does not begin in brain tissue, it is frequently referred to as such. Meningiomas are normally benign (non-cancerous) and do not spread to other regions of the body. A meningioma can nevertheless cause neurological difficulties due to its placement. These tumors can squeeze the brain and spinal cord as they grow, causing significant symptoms.

Headaches, seizures, personality or behavior changes, and progressive focal neurologic deficit, which means the emergence of new neurologic symptoms and signs such as numbness, weakness, or visual disruption, are all common symptoms of a brain tumor in an adult patient.

So, what does all of this mean?

If the tumor becomes large enough to cover your motor cortex, you will have weakness on the opposite side. You experience sensory symptoms if it’s over your sensory cortex. If it passes via your visual brain, you will have visual symptoms. Then the other person’s demeanor or behavior shifts. The frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are significant portions of the brain that affect mood, insight, judgment, personality, and conduct, according to the expert.

“In general, 99.9% of brain tumors are sporadic and we don’t know why they occur,” adds Dr. McDermott.

However, several genetic diseases, such as neurofibromatosis (a genetic abnormality that causes tumors to grow on nerve tissue) and multiple endocrine neoplasia, have been linked to brain tumors. Furthermore, brain tumors have been linked to colon cancer and melanosis.

Prior history of radiation in the face or scalp as a child is one of the risk factors for meningioma. Thus, if you were diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia as a kid and had prophylactic cranial radiation, you would have a 25-fold increased risk of developing meningioma in adulthood. In women, meningiomas are twice as common as in men. Women with a history of thyroid tumors or a family history of meningioma are also at a higher risk of developing meningiomas. Furthermore, some theories claim that women who have had fertility procedures are at a higher risk. While the hormone connection is complicated, some meningiomas are known to become ‘angry’ during pregnancy and then settle down after delivery.

According to Dr. McDermott, “Research conducted in France reported men undergoing gender reassignment medical therapy seemed likely to develop meningiomas later on, approximately 8-10 years after starting treatment. Since these patients are on both anti-androgen and pro-estrogen drugs, it was noticed that they developed multiple meningiomas.” 

“I would say that the greatest proportion of meningiomas are discovered by chance,” adds Dr. McDermott.

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