Brain Tumours

There are numerous types of brain tumours and they all behave differently and so require different combinations of treatment. Following is a brief account of the more commonly encountered tumours and our current thoughts on treatment.

Basic definitions.

What is a tumour?

Tumour – abnormal growth of cells. The word tumour is not synonymous with cancer.

What does Benign mean?

Benign – slow growing tumour that usually does not infiltrate and spread and so can be controlled well.

What does Malignant mean?

Malignant – rapidly growing, aggressive tumour that does infiltrate and spread and so is difficult to control.

What’s the difference between primary and secondary tumours?

Primary Tumour – A tumour that arises from the tissue of the affected organ.

Secondary (Metastatic) Tumour – A tumour that has arisen from a distant site and spread to the affected organ.

  • Royal Australasian College of Surgeons: RACS
  • Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
  • Australian Medical Association
  • Cancer Institute NSW
  • Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology (COGNO)
  • Australia and New Zealand Melanoma Trials Group (ANZMTG)
  • Society for Neuro-Oncology
  • Sydney Catalyst
  • National Biobanking Consortium for Brain Cancer (NBCBC)
  • Melanoma Institute Australia
  • The University of Sydney
  • University of Notre Dame
  • Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
  • Chris O'Brien Lifehouse
  • Mater Hospital - Sydney