Glioblastoma (GBM)
A malignant tumour affecting the brain or spine.
This type of tumour grows and spreads rapidly, often creating pressure.
Symptoms
Nausea or vomiting. Abnormality walking or weakness of one side of the body. Inability to speak or understand language or mental confusion Double vision or visual impairment Difficulty speaking, headache, personality change, seizures, sleepiness, or swelling.
Causes
The causes of glioblastoma are largely unknown. However, it often occurs in people with rare genetic conditions - Turcot syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1 and Li Fraumeni syndrome - due to mutations in a specific gene that causes many of the characteristic features of glioblastoma.
There are only 3 ways to treat GBM
Surgical removal - if it is located in a part of the brain that can be operated. Comes with risks including deficits or rapidly growing back.
Chemotherapy - to stunt the growth. This will not ‘shrink’ the tumour.
Chemotherapy - to stunt the growth. This will not ‘shrink’ the tumour.
Radiotherapy - used to target the tumour and part of the brain around the tumour hoping to reduce the size.
There is NO CURE. Typical prognosis is 6-15 months.
Sources
Google
https://moffitt.org/cancers/glioblastoma/diagnosis/causes/
https://moffitt.org/cancers/glioblastoma/diagnosis/causes/
http://knowledge.rarecancers.org.au/knowledgebase/cancer-types/79/brain-tumour-overview