Brain tumours is one of the commonest tumours in children—–Dr Ayodele

In this interview on brain tumours, Dr Bamidele Ayodele, a consultant Neurosurgeon at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, tells LARA ADEJORO that brain tumours cut across all age groups and it is in fact, one of the commonest tumours in children.

What is brain tumour?
Brains tumours are simply swellings or new growths within the brain. Tumours can occurs in virtually all the tissues in the body. It is a disorder of regular cellular division and death. When that fine balance is lost, the body system undergoes unrestricted cellular division hence a tumour. A brain tumour can either be cancerous (malignant) or non-cancerous (benign).

What causes brain tumours?
Just like in tumours in other parts of the body, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of a particular tumour. But, there’s a number of things that can put a particular person or group at a higher risk of having different kinds of brain tumours. Brain tumour is not even a single diagnosis because there are different kinds of brain tumours with different risk factors. But to a large extent, it’s a combination of both genetic and environmental factors. By genetic, I mean, there are some things that are passed down from the parents to the generations after them. Environmental influence include things like radiation exposure, infections etc. For example, there are some types of brain tumours common in patients with HIV infection.

What is the prevalence in Nigeria?
In our weekly outpatient clinic at LASUTH, we see roughly 2 to 4 new cases per week and they come at various stages but to a large extent, they come at advanced stages than what you get in developed world because we don’t have the culture of general medical check-ups. In this part of the world, most patients come when they are already sick. Brain tumours are increasingly being diagnosed now. This however does not necessarily mean it’s a new problem; it can be explained by better awareness as well as more readily available Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and Computerized Tomography (CT) scan facilities. Brain tumours cut across all age groups and it is in fact, one of the commonest tumours in children.

What are the symptoms? 
Presentations of brain tumours vary. It depends on the type of the tumour and the part of the brain affected. Generally, common symptoms include headache, loss of function of different parts of the body, staggering, persistent nausea, vomiting, loss of hearing, inability to move the arm or leg, change in personality, seizures. In actual fact, when you see an adult with new onset seizure, one needs to consider brain tumour. I’m not saying every seizure is linked with brain tumour but when you have these symptoms, you should seek an appropriate medical care so you can be properly diagnosed.

Is it a treatable condition? 
To a large extent, brain tumour is a treatable condition and surgery plays a vital role in treatment. Surgery is needed to establish diagnosis, and for relief of symptoms. Surgery can achieve cure in some instances, particularly the non-cancerous tumours. Other modalities of treatment include use of specialised drugs like chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy or a different combination of these modalities.