This week marks the first Brain Tumor...

This week marks the first Brain Tumor Awareness Week, set aside to educate the public and highlight the need for more money for research about brain tumors. Here are a few facts:

* A brain tumor is an abnormal mass of tissue in which the cells multiply uncontrollably; it can be benign or malignant.

* Symptoms include headaches, nausea, seizures, loss of coordination or sensation, imbalance, visual disturbance, hearing loss, speech difficulty, behavior or personality changes, difficulty with memory.

* The number of brain tumor diagnoses each year in the United States: about 100,000.

* Brain tumors are the second-leading cause of cancer death in children and adults up to age 34.

* The incidence of brain tumors is increasing for reasons unknown.

* Because tumors are located in the brain’s control center for thought, emotion and movement, their effects can be devastating.

* There are more than 100 types of brain tumors, making treatment very complicated.

* Only 37% of males and 52% of females survive five years after the diagnosis of a primary tumor.

* As many as 60% of children with brain tumors survive, but they are often left with long-term side effects.

* Surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy are used to treat brain tumors. Various new approaches like immunotherapy are being researched.

Source: The North American Brain Tumor Coalition. For a copy of the Patient Resource Guide, call (800) 753-5877.