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Q.

What's the difference between benign and malignant brain tumors?

Related Topics: Brain Tumor, Cancer, Benign
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A.

Benign brain tumors are noncancerous.

Malignant primary brain tumors are cancers that originate in the brain. They typically grow faster than benign tumors and aggressively invade surrounding tissue. Although brain cancer rarely spreads to other organs, it will spread to other parts of the brain and central nervous system.

Benign brain tumors usually have clearly defined borders and usually are not deeply rooted in brain tissue. This makes them easier to surgically remove, assuming they are in an area of the brain that can be safely operated on. But even after they've been removed, they can still come back, though benign tumors are less likely than malignant ones to recur.

Although benign tumors in other parts of the body can cause problems, they are not generally considered to be a major health problem or to be life threatening. But even a benign brain tumor can be a serious health problem. Brain tumors damage the cells around them by causing inflammation and putting increased pressure on the tissue under and around it as well as inside the skull.

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