clinmed2test3: CNS Neoplasms ppt

Study Notes

Primary CNS tumors originate in the brain or spinal cord, whereas secondary CNS tumors metastasize from cancers in other organs.
Most common primary brain tumor is meningioma, while most common malignant primary brain tumor is glioblastoma.
Most common brain tumor overall is metastatic cancer from another source.

Occupation: white collar professionals, healthcare, and lab research.
Exposure to ionizing radiation, therapeutic radiation therapy, and history of head trauma.
Environmental exposure to N-nitroso compounds, genetic predisposition (neurofibromatosis types 1 & 2), and radiofrequency radiation and electromagnetic radiation exposure.

Cancer originates elsewhere in the body and metastasizes to the brain via blood.
Most common brain tumors in adults, with 4-10 times more frequent occurrence than primary brain tumors.
Usually multiple lesions, with cancers most likely to spread to the brain being lung, breast, melanoma, renal cell, and colon.

Attached to the dura mater, slow-growing tumors with a strong female predominance.
Consider neurofibromatosis, often asymptomatic, with surgery as the main treatment.
Problems arise from pressure, with visual complications if affecting optic nerve tract, and seizures in 25-40% of patients.

Also known as vestibular schwannoma, arising from the vestibular portion of CN VIII.
Median age at diagnosis is 50, with unilateral cases in more than 90% of cases.
Bilateral vestibular schwannomas suggest neurofibromatosis type 2 until proven otherwise.
Risk factors include familial or genetic risk, noise exposure, and leisure settings (OR=1.9) and work (OR=1.5).
Clinical presentation includes asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss with or without other focal cranial nerve deficits, confirmed with audiometry and imaged with MRI or CT.

Most common primary malignant brain tumor, with usual age-of-onset above 60.
Usually located in cerebral white matter, with heterogeneous cellular origins.
Characterized by necrosis with vascular proliferation, forming a "ring of tissue around necrotic core".

Catch-all term for tumors originating from glial cells (neural structural/support cells).
Includes astrocytoma, glioblastoma, and oligodendroglioma.
Graded by the presence or absence of standard pathologic features (WHO Grades I-IV).

Headaches in 20% of cases, typically worst on rising in the morning.
Seizures in 35% of cases, with presentation depending on location.
Can mimic stroke, with clinical features evaluated through CT and/or MRI, EEG, surgery, and radiation therapy.