A brain metastasis is a
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
that has
metastasized (spread) to the
brain
The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...
from another location in the body and is therefore considered a
secondary brain tumor.
The metastasis typically shares a
cancer cell type with the original site of the cancer.
Metastasis is the most common cause of brain cancer, as
primary tumors that originate in the brain are less common.
The most common sites of primary cancer which metastasize to the brain are lung, breast, colon, kidney, and skin cancer. Brain metastases can occur months or even years after the original or primary cancer is treated. Brain metastases have a poor
prognosis
Prognosis ( Greek: πρόγνωσις "fore-knowing, foreseeing"; : prognoses) is a medical term for predicting the likelihood or expected development of a disease, including whether the signs and symptoms will improve or worsen (and how quickly) ...
for cure, but modern treatments allow patients to live months and sometimes years after the diagnosis.
Symptoms and signs
Because different parts of the brain are responsible for different functions, symptoms vary depending on the site of metastasis within the brain. However, brain metastases should be considered in any cancer patient who presents with neurological or behavioral changes.
Brain metastases can cause a wide variety of symptoms which can also be present in minor, more common conditions. Neurological symptoms are often caused by
increased intracranial pressure
Intracranial pressure (ICP) is the pressure exerted by fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inside the skull and on the brain tissue. ICP is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and at rest, is normally 7–15 mmHg for a supine adult. ...
,
with severe cases resulting in
coma
A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...
.
The most common neurological symptoms include:
* New onset
headache
A headache, also known as cephalalgia, is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of Depression (mood), depression in those with severe ...
s: headaches occur in roughly half of brain metastasis patients, especially in those with many tumors.
* Paresthesias: patients often present with (
hemiparesis
Hemiparesis, also called unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one entire side of the body (''wikt:hemi-#Prefix, hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia, in its most severe form, is the complete paralysis of one entire side of the body. Either hemipar ...
), or weakness on only one side of the body, which is often a result of damage to neighboring brain tissue.
*
Ataxia
Ataxia (from Greek α- negative prefix+ -τάξις rder= "lack of order") is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that can include gait abnormality, speech changes, and abnormalities in e ...
: when metastasis occurs to the
cerebellum
The cerebellum (: cerebella or cerebellums; Latin for 'little brain') is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as it or eve ...
, patients will experience various difficulties with spatial awareness and coordination.
*
Seizure
A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...
s: when present, often indicates disease involvement of the
cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of Neuron, neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays ...
.
Causes
The most common
primary tumors causing brain metastases are, in order of decreasing frequency: Lung, breast, kidney, gastrointestinal, and melanoma. Lung and breast cancers account for over half of brain metastases.
The most common sources of brain metastases in a
case series of 2,700 patients undergoing treatment at the
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute– designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Its main campus is ...
were:
*
Lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
, 48%
*
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
, 15%

*
Genitourinary tract cancers, 11%
*
Osteosarcoma
An osteosarcoma (OS) or osteogenic sarcoma (OGS) is a cancerous tumor in a bone. Specifically, it is an aggressive malignant neoplasm that arises from primitive transformed cells of mesenchyme, mesenchymal origin (and thus a sarcoma) and that exhi ...
, 10%
*
Melanoma
Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...
, 9%
*
Head and neck cancer
Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips (oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophary ...
, 6%
*
Neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma (NB) is a type of cancer that forms in certain types of nerve tissue. It most frequently starts from one of the adrenal glands but can also develop in the head, neck, chest, abdomen, or Vertebral column, spine. Symptoms may include ...
, 5%
*
Gastrointestinal cancer
Gastrointestinal cancer refers to malignant conditions of the Human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) and accessory organs of digestion, including the esophagus, stomach, biliary system, pancreas, small intestine, large in ...
s, especially
colorectal and
pancreatic carcinoma, 3%
*
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...
, 1%
Lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
and
melanoma
Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...
are most likely to present with multiple metastasis, whereas breast, colon, and renal cancers are more likely to present with a single metastasis.
Pathophysiology
Metastatic spread to the brain is usually hematogenous. Metastatic cells often lodge at the interface between gray mater and white mater as arteries narrow in caliber at this site. Spread to the meninges may result in
leptomeningeal cancer.
Diagnosis

Brain imaging (
neuroimaging
Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the neuroanatomy, structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive ...
such as
CT or
MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and rad ...
) is needed to determine the presence of brain metastases.
In particular, contrast-enhanced MRI is the best method of diagnosing brain metastases, although primary detection may be done using CT.
Positron emission tomography (PET) is usually not considered suitable for imaging of brain metastases, because the most frequently used PET-
radiotracer,
18F-FDG, does not only accumulate in the tumor but is naturally taken up by normal brain tissue, usually resulting in insufficient tumor-to-background contrast. PET-imaging of brain metastases is however feasible using alternative radiotracers, such as the
Gallium-68
Natural gallium (31Ga) consists of a mixture of two stable Isotope, isotopes: gallium-69 and gallium-71. Twenty-nine radioisotopes are known, all synthetic, with atomic masses ranging from 60 to 89; along with three nuclear isomer, nuclear isomer ...
labeled
peptide
Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain. Polypeptides that have a molecular mass of 10,000 Da or more are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty am ...
68Ga-Trivehexin,
a tracer targeting the tumor cell surface protein
αvβ6-integrin.
68Ga-Trivehexin demonstrated high uptake in a brain metastasis of
tonsil carcinoma but no uptake in the surrounding healthy brain tissue, enabling a delineation of the brain metastasis.
In addition to imaging, biopsy is often recommended to confirm diagnosis.
The diagnosis of brain metastases typically follows a diagnosis of a primary cancer.
Occasionally, brain metastases will be diagnosed concurrently with a primary tumor or before the primary tumor is found.
In the setting of brain metastasis due to malignant melanoma, MRI imaging showed high T1 and low T2 intensity due to the deposition of melanin in the brain. In
susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI), it usually shows abnormal SWI hypointensity in larger proportion than brain metastasis caused by breast carcinoma.
Treatment
Treatment for brain metastases is primarily
palliative
Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...
, with the goals of therapy being reduction of symptoms and prolongation of life. However, brain metastases harboring a mutation in the BRAF kinase at position V600 are effectively druggable with small molecule inhibitors such as dabrafenib. Unfortunately, drug resistance is observed within 4-6 months after treatment. Recently, expression of NGFR was associated with progressive intracranial disease in melanoma patients Additionally, there is limited evidence that the treatments that are offered takes account of patient-focused
comparative effectiveness.
However, in some patients, particularly younger, healthier patients, aggressive therapy consisting of open
craniotomy
A craniotomy is a surgery, surgical operation in which a bone flap is temporarily removed from the Human skull, skull to access the Human brain, brain. Craniotomies are often critical operations, performed on patients who are suffering from brain ...
with maximal excision,
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...
, and radiosurgical intervention (
Gamma Knife therapy) may be attempted.
Some studies suggest that there may be no consistent benefit to combining radiation and systemic therapy (such as chemotherapy).
Symptomatic care
Symptomatic care should be given to all patients with brain metastases, as they often cause severe, debilitating symptoms. Treatment consists mainly of:
*
Corticosteroids
Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex of vertebrates, as well as the synthetic analogues of these hormones. Two main classes of corticosteroids, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, are invol ...
– Corticosteroid therapy is essential for all patients with brain metastases, as it prevents development of
cerebral edema
Cerebral edema is excess accumulation of fluid ( edema) in the intracellular or extracellular spaces of the brain. This typically causes impaired nerve function, increased pressure within the skull, and can eventually lead to direct compres ...
, as well as treating other neurological symptoms such as headaches, cognitive dysfunction, and
emesis
Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose.
Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pregna ...
.
Dexamethasone
Dexamethasone is a fluorinated glucocorticoid medication used to treat rheumatic problems, a number of skin diseases, severe allergies, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), croup, brain swelling, eye pain following eye su ...
is the
corticosteroid
Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex of vertebrates, as well as the synthetic analogues of these hormones. Two main classes of corticosteroids, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, are invo ...
of choice.
Although neurological symptoms may improve within 24 to 72 hours of starting corticosteroids, cerebral edema may not improve for up to a week.
In addition, patients may experience adverse side effects from these drugs, such as myopathy and opportunistic infections, which can be alleviated by decreasing the dose.
*
Anticonvulsant
Anticonvulsants (also known as antiepileptic drugs, antiseizure drugs, or anti-seizure medications (ASM)) are a diverse group of pharmacological agents used in the treatment of epileptic seizures. Anticonvulsants are also used in the treatme ...
s – Anticonvulsants should be used for patients with brain metastases who experience seizures, as there is a risk of status epilepticus and death.
Newer generation anticonvulsants including
Lamotrigine
Lamotrigine ( ), sold under the brand name Lamictal among others, is a medication used to treat epilepsy and stabilize mood in bipolar disorder. For epilepsy, this includes focal seizures, tonic-clonic seizures, and seizures in Lennox-Gastau ...
and
Topiramate
Topiramate, sold under the brand name Topamax among others, is a medication used to treat epilepsy and prevent migraines. It has also been used for alcohol dependence and essential tremor. For epilepsy, this includes treatment for generali ...
are recommended due to their relatively limited side effects.
It is not recommended to prophylactically give anti-seizure medications when a seizure has not yet been experienced by a patient with brain metastasis.
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells. It is normally delivered by a linear particle ...
plays a critical role in the treatment of brain metastases, and includes whole-brain irradiation, fractionated radiotherapy, and
radiosurgery
Radiosurgery is surgery using radiation, that is, the destruction of precisely selected areas of tissue using ionizing radiation rather than excision with a blade. Like other forms of radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy), it is usually us ...
.
Whole-brain irradiation is used as a primary treatment method in patients with multiple lesions and is also used alongside surgical resection when patients have single and accessible tumors.
However, it often causes severe side effects, including radiation
necrosis
Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. The term "necrosis" came about in the mid-19th century and is commonly attributed to German pathologist Rudolf Virchow, who i ...
,
dementia
Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...
,
toxic leukoencephalopathy, partial to complete hair loss, nausea, headaches, and
otitis media
Otitis media is a group of Inflammation, inflammatory diseases of the middle ear. One of the two main types is acute otitis media (AOM), an infection of rapid onset that usually presents with ear pain. In young children this may result in pullin ...
.
In children this treatment may cause intellectual impairment, psychiatric disturbances, and other neuropsychiatric effects. Results from a 2021 systematic review on radiation therapy for brain metastases found that despite much research on radiation therapy, there is little evidence to inform
comparative effectiveness and such
patient-centered outcomes as quality of life, functional status, or cognitive effects.
In addition, whole-brain irradiation in combination with surgery showed no effect on overall survival when compared to whole-brain irradiation alone as demonstrated by a systematic review by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Recent advancements in personalized medicine and targeted therapies, such as the use of BRAF inhibitors in melanoma patients, have shown promises in improving outcomes for certain subsets of patients with brain metastases. Additionally, ongoing research into the genetic and molecular profiles of brain metastases is creating a way for more tailored and effective treatments.
Surgery
Brain metastases are often managed surgically if they are accessible. Surgical resection followed by
stereotactic radiosurgery
Stereotactic surgery is a minimally invasive form of surgery, surgical intervention that makes use of a three-dimensional coordinates, coordinate system to locate small targets inside the body and to perform on them some action such as ablation, ...
or whole-brain irradiation deliver superior survival compared to whole brain irradiation alone.
Therefore, in patients with only one metastatic brain lesion and controlled or limited systemic disease, a life expectancy of at least 3 months with maintenance of
performance status
In medicine (oncology and other fields), performance status is an attempt to quantify cancer patients' general well-being and activities of daily life. This measure is used to determine whether they can receive chemotherapy, whether dose adjustme ...
might be expected.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...
is rarely used for the treatment of brain metastases, as chemotherapeutic agents penetrate the
blood brain barrier
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells.
Blood is compo ...
poorly.
However, some cancers such as lymphomas,
small cell lung carcinomas (SCLC) and
breast cancer
Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
may be highly chemosensitive and chemotherapy may be used to treat extracranial sites of metastatic disease in these cancers.
The effectiveness and safety of using chemotherapy to treat a brain metastasis that came from a SCLC is not clear. An experimental treatment for brain metastases is
intrathecal chemotherapy, a technique in which a chemotherapeutic drug is delivered via intralumbar injection into the
cerebrospinal fluid
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless Extracellular fluid#Transcellular fluid, transcellular body fluid found within the meninges, meningeal tissue that surrounds the vertebrate brain and spinal cord, and in the ventricular system, ven ...
. Current research on the treatment of brain metastases includes creating new drug molecules to effectively target the blood-brain barrier and studying the relationship between tumors and various genes.
In 2015, the United States
FDA
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
approved Alecensa (
alectinib) for use in patients with a specific type of
non-small cell lung cancer
Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), or non-small-cell lung carcinoma, is any type of epithelial lung cancer other than small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). NSCLC accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. As a class, NSCLCs are relatively insensitiv ...
(NSCLC; ALK-positive), a type of cancer which often metastasizes to the brain, whose condition worsened after use or were unable to take another medication, Xalkori (
crizotinib
Crizotinib, sold under the brand name Xalkori among others, is an anti-cancer medication used for the treatment of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Crizotinib inhibits the c-Met/ Hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR) tyrosine kinase, wh ...
).
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as ''activation immunotherapies,'' while immunotherap ...
, for instance
Anti-PD-1 alone or in combination with
anti-CTLA-4, appears to be effective in some patients with brain metastases especially when these are asymptomatic, stable and not previously treated. In 2022, OMICs-based approaches such as single-cell and bulk RNA-sequencing revealed molecular subgroups in melanoma brain metastases (MBM) that may explain the variable response of MBM to therapeutic interventions. Moreover, methylome and transcriptome profiling of MBM revealed immune cell and microglia-enriched tumor subsets showing favorable outcome.
Prognosis
The prognosis for brain metastases is variable; it depends on the type of primary cancer, the age of the patient, the absence or presence of extracranial metastases, and the number of metastatic sites in the brain.
For patients who do not undergo treatment the average survival is between one and two months.
However, in some patients, such as those with no extracranial metastases, those who are younger than 65, and those with a single site of metastasis in the brain only, prognosis is much better, with
median
The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...
survival rates of up to 13.5 months.
Because brain metastasis can originate from various different primary cancers, the
Karnofsky performance score is used for a more specific prognosis.
Epidemiology
It is estimated that the worldwide
incidence rate
In epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowl ...
for brain metastases lies around 9% to 17%, based on the region of diagnosis. However, the baseline incidence rate of brain metastases were found to increase with improvements to
brain imaging technology. Approximately 5-11% of brain metastasis were found to be deadly at 30 days, and 14 - 23% were found to be deadly at three months.
More cases of brain metastases were found in
adult
An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social an ...
s, compared to
child
A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...
ren. 67% to 80% of all
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
patients were found to develop brain metastases, as of 2012.
Lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
,
breast cancer
Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
and
melanoma
Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...
patients were found to be at the highest risk of developing brain metastases. However, recent trends in brain metastasis
epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...
have shown an increase in incidence for patients with
renal
In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and right in the retrop ...
,
colorectal, or
ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...
s. Brain metastases are most commonly diagnosed within multiple
intracranial
The cranial cavity, also known as intracranial space, is the space within the skull that accommodates the brain. The skull is also known as the cranium. The cranial cavity is formed by eight cranial bones known as the neurocranium that in human ...
areas within the context of extracranial diseases.
Both
population studies
Population study is an interdisciplinary field of scientific study that uses various statistical methods and models to analyse, determine, address, and predict population challenges and trends from data collected through various data collection me ...
and
autopsy studies have historically been used to calculate the incidence of brain metastases. However, many researchers have stated that population studies may express inaccurate data for brain metastases, given that surgeons have, in the past, been hesitant to take in patients with the condition. As a result, population studies regarding brain metastases have historically been inaccurate and incomplete.
Advances in systemic treatments of brain metastases, such as
radiosurgery
Radiosurgery is surgery using radiation, that is, the destruction of precisely selected areas of tissue using ionizing radiation rather than excision with a blade. Like other forms of radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy), it is usually us ...
,
whole-brain radiotherapy and
surgical resection
Segmental resection, or segmentectomy, is a surgical procedure to remove part of an organ or gland as a sub-type of resection, which might involve removing the whole body part. It may also be used to remove a tumor and the normal tissue around it ...
has led to an increase in
median survival rate of brain metastases patients.
See also
*
Neoplasm
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
*
Metastasis
Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spreading from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, ...
*
Cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
*
Brain tumor
A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...
References
{{Authority control
Brain tumor