Brain tumours symptoms and risk factors

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms you may experience depend on where the tumour is, its size and how slowly or quickly it is growing. Symptoms can develop suddenly (in days or weeks) or over time (months or years). Many symptoms are the same as other conditions, but see your doctor about any new, persistent or worsening symptoms.

Brain tumours can increase pressure inside the skull (intracranial pressure). Pressure can build up because the tumour is taking up too much space, is causing brain swelling or is blocking the flow of cerebrospinal fluid around the brain (see Having a shunt). This increased pressure can lead to symptoms such as:

• headaches – often worse when you wake up
• nausea and vomiting – often worse in the morning or after changing position (e.g. moving from sitting to standing)
• confusion and irritability
• blurred or double vision
• seizures (fits) – might cause some jerking or twitching of your hands, arms or legs, or affect the whole body
• weakness in parts of the body
• poor coordination
• drowsiness or loss of consciousness
• difficulty speaking or finding the right words.

For information about specific symptoms caused by the location of the tumour, see the diagram below.

Tumour symptoms by location

The symptoms you experience will depend on where the tumour is in the brain or spinal cord. See above for general symptoms caused by pressure in the skull.

Frontal lobe

• difficulty with planning or organising activities
• changes in behaviour, personality and social skills
• depression or mood swings
• weakness in part of the face, or on one side of the body
• difficulty walking
• loss of sense of smell
• problems with seeing or speaking
• trouble finding the right word

Temporal lobe    

• forgetting events and conversations
• difficulty understanding what is said to you or recognising sounds
• trouble learning and remembering new information
• seizures with strange feelings, smells or deja vu

Pituitary gland*

• headaches
• loss of vision (often side or peripheral vision)
• nausea or vomiting
• erection problems
• less interest in sex
• thyroid and other hormone changes

*Found deep inside the brain

Brain stem

• coordination problems
• difficulty swallowing or speaking
• double vision
• weakness and numbness in part of the face
• weakness in the arms or legs
• fatigue
• changes to sleep/wake patterns

Parietal lobe

• problems with reading or writing
• loss of feeling in part of the body
• difficulty telling left from right
• difficulty locating objects around you

Occipital lobe

• loss of all or some vision

Meninges

• headaches
• vomiting
• weakness in the arms or legs
• personality changes or confusion

Cerebellum

• coordination and balance problems
• uncontrolled eye movement
• stiff neck
• dizziness
• difficulty speaking (staccato speech)

Spinal cord

• back and neck pain
• numbness or tingling in the arms or legs
• change to muscle tone in the arms or legs
• clumsiness or difficulty walking
• loss of bowel or bladder control (incontinence)
• change in the feeling in the genital or anal area or erection problems

Nerve and other tumours

Symptoms of tumours starting in the brain’s nerves (cranial nerves) depend on the affected nerve. The most common nerve tumours are vestibular schwannomas (acoustic neuromas). They can cause hearing loss, dizziness and balance issues. Vestibular schwannomas are usually benign. Tumours of the pineal gland (deep within the brain) are very rare and usually classified as neuroendocrine tumours.

What are the risk factors?

The cause of most brain and spinal cord tumours is unknown. As we get older the risk of developing many cancers, including brain cancer, increases.

Other things known to increase a person’s risk include:

Family history – It’s rare for brain tumours to run in families, though some people inherit a gene change from their parent that increases their risk. For example, a genetic condition calledneurofibromatosis can lead to mostly benign tumours of the brain and spinal cord. Having a parent, sibling or child with a primary brain tumour may sometimes mean an increase in risk.

Radiation therapy – People who have had radiation therapy to the head, particularly for childhood leukaemia, may have a slightly higher risk of brain tumours, such as meningioma, many years later.

Chemical exposure – A chemical called vinyl chloride, some pesticides, and working in rubber manufacturing and petroleum refining have been linked with brain tumours.

Overweight and obesity – A small number of meningioma brain tumours are thought to be linked to high body weight or obesity.