Primary brain tumors, or primary brain tumors or tumors of the central nervous system, are abnormal agglomerates of cells, formed and increased more or less suddenly in some region of the brain (ie brain, diencephalon, cerebellum and brainstem) or spinal cord.
Fruit of genetic mutations of DNA whose causes are not yet known, brain tumors can be benign, slow-growing neoplasms or malignant neoplasms of a fast-growing nature.
Since the numbers and information of an epidemiological nature of a disease always have a certain impact on the reader, here is a collection of brief but interesting and reliable numerical information concerning primary brain tumors:
- According to the latest estimates, 120-130 primary brain tumors of different types exist . The variety is so wide because the central nervous system is a highly complex structure, with lots of different cells, each with a specific function.
The name of each type usually derives from the cellular element or from the encephalic (or medullary) region from which the tumor mass originates.
- According to the claims of the AIRC (or the Italian Association for Cancer Research), tumors of the central nervous system represent 1.3% of all the cancers diagnosed in our country .
Since this data is common to several other states in the Western world, primary brain tumors are considered to be quite rare tumors.
- According to the CBTRUS (ie the American Registry of Brain Tumors), central nervous system tumors would be the second leading cause of cancer-related death in individuals under the age of 20 and in males aged 20 to 39 ( NB: in both cases, there are leukemias in the first place; moreover, they would be the fifth cause of death from cancer in women between 20 and 39 years.
- Also according to reports from CBTRUS, malignant tumors of the central nervous system would be the most common malignant neoplasms in young people aged 0-19 .
