Adult Brain Tumor Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Testing

Learn about the signs and symptoms of brain and spinal cord tumors in adults. Find out about tests that may be done for brain and spinal cord tumors.

Can brain tumors be found early?

At this time, there are no widely recommended tests to screen for brain tumors. (Screening is testing for a disease in people who have no symptoms.) Instead, most brain tumors are found because they start to cause symptoms, such as:

• Headache
• Seizures
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Blurred vision
• Balance problems
• Personality or behavior changes
• Drowsiness or even coma

These symptoms can also be caused by other things. Still, if you have symptoms that might be from a brain tumor, especially if they don’t go away or are getting worse, have them checked by a health care professional.

Most often, the outlook for a person with a brain or spinal cord tumor depends mainly on the type of tumor they have, its location, and the person’s age. But as with any disease, finding and treating brain tumors earlier can still often be helpful.

If you have an inherited syndrome that increases brain tumor risk

For people with certain inherited syndromes (such as neurofibromatosis or tuberous sclerosis) that put them at higher risk for brain tumors, doctors often recommend frequent physical exams and other tests starting when they are young.

These tests can often find tumors when they are still small. Not all tumors related to these syndromes need to be treated right away, but finding them early can help doctors monitor them so they can be treated quickly if they begin to grow or cause problems.

How are brain tumors diagnosed?

If your doctor suspects a brain tumor based on signs or symptoms you’re having, exams and tests will be needed to be sure. These might include:

• A physical exam, including a detailed nervous system (neurologic) exam
• Imaging tests such as MRI scans
• Biopsies of abnormal areas

You might also be referred to a doctor who specializes in nervous system problems like brain tumors, such as a neurologist or a neurosurgeon, who may order other tests.

What affects brain tumor prognosis?

For most cancers, the stage – a measure of how far it has spread – is one of the most important factors in choosing treatment options and determining a person's outlook (prognosis).

But brain tumors can be serious or even life-threatening because of their location, even though they’re not likely to spread outside the brain.

Because of this, brain tumors don’t have a formal staging system like most other cancers. Instead, the factors that help determine outlook include:

• The person's age
• How much the tumor is affecting normal brain functions and everyday activity (the person’s functional level)
• The type of tumor (such as astrocytoma, ependymoma, etc.)
• The grade of the tumor (how quickly the tumor is likely to grow, based on how the cells look under a microscope)
• Whether the tumor cells have certain gene mutations or other changes (For example, tumors with a mutation in the IDH1 or IDH2 gene, known as “IDH-mutant” tumors, tend to grow more slowly and have a better outlook than tumors without these mutations.)
• The location and size of the tumor
• How much of the tumor can be removed by surgery (if it can be done)
• Whether or not the tumor has spread through the cerebrospinal fluid to other parts of the brain or spinal cord

Talk to your doctor to learn more about how these and other factors might affect your outlook and treatment options.