Daily Times

LAHORE: Symptoms of brain tumor normally includes headache, nausea, fatigue, seizures, difficulty in speaking and losing eye sight, said Dr. Irfan Yousaf, Consultant Neuro Surgeon Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center ( SKMCH&RC) while talking to media on World Brain Tumor Day on Thursday.

“Specifically a pituitary tumor affects one’s hormones and eye-sight. CT Scans and MRIs are used to diagnose Brain Tumor. There are no specific reasons of brain tumor development but we can identify some risk elements such as working or spending time at radioactive area,” said the surgeon.

Unfortunately in Pakistan we do not have central tumor registry for our population while in America 22 cases per one lac population of brain tumors are surfaced and out of these one third are malignant and two third are non-malignant.

Dr. Irfan added that a tumor is an abnormally grown up tissue of any body part which goes out of body control system. “Brain tumor can cause different adverse effects on human body depending on its types. Some brain tumors grow quickly whereas some take a longer time span to grow big, but in any case it should be treated properly. Brain tumors are categorized into four grades” he said.

Doctors recommend biopsy procedure, if a person is diagnosed with brain tumor. It is also important to check if is developed within brain or comes from any other part of body. A benign tumor is relatively less dangerous and once it is surgically removed there are very little chances of relapse. On the other hand, life expectancy of a brain tumor patient depends on the grade of malignant tumor. Structure of brain is very complex. It can only be handled by highly qualified and experienced doctors.

He further said that timely treatment of brain tumor is very important as chances of relapsing increases with the grade of tumor. “To avoid any unpleasant situation cured patient should regularly undergo follow-up checkups. It is not a standard procedure as sometimes doctors also avoid biopsy due to sensitivity of the affected area of brain. In this situation MRS is used,” said the surgeon.

Talking about the treatment procedures of brain tumor, Dr. Irfan said, “there are couples of treatment procedures including surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Fortunately; stereotactic radio surgery (SRS) is also available in Pakistan. Patients with a brain tumor less than 3 centimeters of size or having physical condition not suitable for surgery are treated with SRS. Whereas option of international trial should be used in treating the most dangerous brain tumor like GBM”.

He went on to say “Under Combined Group Neuro Oncology program, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital is providing international standard treatment facilities of brain tumor. In this group, experienced neuro surgeons, radiation oncologists, radiologist and cancer pathologists for cancer grading are included. . The hospital has had IMRT capability for many years, and has now also introduced image-guided radiation therapy or IGRT, which is one of the latest methods of radiation therapy delivery, worldwide. At SKMCH&RC, it is used through computerized controlled linear accelerators which enable us to specifically deal with effected area without damaging the healthy tissues. Although treatment of brain tumor is quite expensive but it is provided totally free of cost to the deserving patients”.

In his message to the public Dr. Irfan said, “Negligence in treatment of diseases like brain tumor can be fatal. The only solution to avoid difficulties is proper and timely treatment from a recognized institute. Fortunately in Pakistan we have most modern treatment technologies with low risks and better outcomes.”

Moreover, on the eve of International Brain Tumor Day, renowned Neuro Surgeon,  Dr. Khalid Mahmood has said that commemoration of this day is aimed at creating awareness about brain tumors among general public.

Talking about symptoms Prof. Dr. Khalid Mahmood said that brain tumors can present with headaches, problems with vision, epilepsy, stroke, personality changes and drowsiness and if not diagnosed early may lead to comatose condition. He said that great improvement in treatment of brain tumors in Pakistan has occurred and especially in Punjab Institute of Neuro Sciences of Lahore General Hospital modern ways have been adopted and latest diagnostic and operative facilities are available there for this complicated surgery.

He added that generally in expert hands operative mortality of most of brain tumors is less than 5%. He said that contrast CT scan of Brain is widely available. Furthermore in Lahore General Hospital 3 Tesla MRI is also being provided for the general public. He claimed that there are more than 100 types of brain tumors which start from childhood to different age sections.

He suggested that a Neurosurgeon should operate in a way as to steal away tumor from brain during surgery meaning that rest of brain should remain undisturbed and there should be no minimal external evidence of surgery. He said that we have also started painless but awake brain tumor surgery and Punjab Institute of Neuro Sciences removing a tumor as soon as there is early weakness in arm on difficulty with speech.

He asked the patients not to be afraid of the complex problems and face it with courage and strength. He concluded that on this International Brain Tumor Day doctors should affirm their belief to serve the ailing humanity with new spirit and work on latest research and medical treatment in this regard.