Brain tumor: causes, types and treatments after Alessandro Di Battista's illness

There is a brain tumor at the origin of the cerebral edema that caused Alessandro Di Battista to become ill. But there are very different forms of brain tumor. In everyone, the cells of the central nervous system grow uncontrollably and alter their functioning. This type of malignant mass is relatively rare: there are 6,000 new diagnoses per year in Italy, equal to 1.6% of all tumors registered annually. According to the data, men are the most affected. As underlined by the report "The numbers of cancer in Italy" - by the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom) and the Italian Association of Tumor Registers (Airtum) -, there is no possibility of an "early diagnosis" for these tumors, which are only noticed after the manifestation of symptoms. The latter are in turn difficult to trace back to exact diagnoses: the Agostino Gemelli Irccs University Hospital in Rome explains that brain tumors manifest themselves in different ways, mainly linked to the area in which they develop and their size.

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The most frequent malignant tumor

The most frequent malignant central nervous system tumor in adults - between the ages of 45 and 75 - is glioblastoma, with an estimated incidence rate of around 3-4 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants per year. It is a very aggressive form that grows rapidly and tends to invade surrounding tissues, making it difficult to completely remove.

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Glioblastoma belongs to the glioma family. These tumors arise from cells called "glial cells", which act as nourishment and support for neurons. A distinction is made between low-grade tumors - more frequent between the ages of 20 and 40 - and high-grade tumors - more frequent between the ages of 40 and 70 -. Gliomas, also called yellow tumors, represent approximately 40% of all tumors of the adult central nervous system.

Metastases

If gliomas are primary brain tumors - that is, they originate in the brain - there are also secondary ones, that is, metastases that originally develop in other organs and then spread to the tissue</think>