Main characteristics of different types of brain cancer

Brain cancer is a malignant tumor of the nervous system that occurs in the skull. There are many types of brain cancer, and different types of brain cancer have different characteristics. Patients may also experience different symptoms and manifestations.

1. Brainstem tumors

Glioma is the most common brainstem tumor, followed by vascular tumor. Its characteristics are different according to the location of the tumor and the extent of invasion of the brainstem. Midbrain tumor can cause ipsilateral oculomotor nerve paralysis and contralateral limb hemiplegia; pons tumor can cause ipsilateral facial numbness, facial paralysis, tinnitus, hearing loss, vertigo and contralateral hemiplegia; medullary tumor can cause choking, hoarseness, dysphagia and contralateral hemiplegia, all of which are called crossed paralysis, which is the basis for diagnosing brainstem tumor.

2. Thalamic and basal ganglia tumors

The characteristic of tumors occurring in this area is that they may not show obvious symptoms for a long time. First, the contralateral limbs may have muscle weakness, pyramidal tract syndrome and sensory disturbance. A few patients may experience spontaneous pain in the contralateral half of the body. They may also experience contralateral "three hemiplegia" symptoms, namely hemiplegia, hemi-sensory disturbance and homonymous hemianopsia. Hearing loss may occur sometimes, and when the posterior quadrigeminal part of the thalamus is affected, there may be inability to look upwards with both eyes.

3. Parietal lobe tumor

Gliomas and meningiomas are common in the parietal lobe, and metastatic tumors often occur in the parietal lobe. The characteristic is sensory disturbance, including cortical entity sensation such as body shape, weight, texture, and general sensory disturbance, and apraxia and dyslexia may also occur, or accompanied by visual field defects and localized epilepsy.

4. Temporal lobe tumors

Gliomas and meningiomas are common in the temporal lobe, and are characterized by temporal lobe epileptic seizures, which manifest as olfactory and gustatory hallucinations, followed by sucking movements of the lips, limb convulsions, and mild hemiplegia of the contralateral limbs in some patients.