What is glioblastoma and what are the main symptoms to look out for?

There are dozens of types of brain tumors, with glioblastoma being the most common in adults.

It is an aggressive and fast-growing tumor with a surprisingly short lifespan.

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Glioblastoma is grade 4 brain tumors – and are sometimes referred to as glioblastoma multiforme.

Some people can live just a few months after their diagnosis, while others can live five years, sometimes longer in extremely rare cases.

Knowing the symptoms of the disease can help make an earlier diagnosis.

What is glioblastoma?

Glioblastoma is the most common high-grade primary brain tumor in adults.

The cancer starts in the brain and almost never spreads to other parts of the body. However, its complexity makes it difficult to treat.

It is also resistant to treatment because the cells within the tumor are not all of the same type.

There are no known causes of glioblastoma, like most brain tumors, so there is no definite way to prevent the disease.

The first line of treatment is surgery to attempt to excise the tumor. However, because glioblastomas are “diffuse,” meaning they invade healthy cells around them, it’s very difficult to remove the tumor without damaging healthy parts of the brain.

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can help stop the growth and spread of the tumor cells. Despite the high intensity of treatment, the cancer usually recurs.

What are the symptoms of glioblastoma?

the symptoms can be quite unspecific at first. The brain controls so many different functions that the symptoms someone experiences depend in part on where the tumor is located.

People can mistake their symptoms for various other problems, such as: emphasize or even one Male cat.

Symptoms can get worse very quickly, sometimes progressing to unconsciousness.

brain tumor research says tumors increase pressure in the skull and cause headaches.

Other symptoms to look out for are:

• loss of appetite
• nausea and vomiting
• loss of balance
• mood swings
• problems speaking
• Problems with memory or concentration
• seizures
• visual impairment

What is the life expectancy of a patient with glioblastoma?

Most people diagnosed with glioblastoma have a life expectancy of between 12 and 15 months.

Those who choose not to have treatment are expected to live about three months.

A quarter of glioblastoma patients survive more than a year and five percent of patients survive more than five years

“Less than one percent of all patients with a glioblastoma live longer than ten years, so it ends fatally in most cases,” says Brain Tumor Research.

Which celebrities have had glioblastoma?

In March 2022, The Wanted became a band member Tom Parker has died of glioblastoma at the age of 33.

The star was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor in 2020 and just 18 months to live.

Former Public Health Secretary and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell died of glioblastoma in May 2018.

She was diagnosed a year earlier and went public about the cancer on her birthday in September 2017.

The brave mum said she was “not afraid” and wanted to raise awareness of the reality of cancer.

For more information visit brain tumor research.