Overview

Brain tumors are cancerous or non-cancerous growths of abnormal cells in the brain. They may either start in the brain or spread to the brain from elsewhere in the body.
There are two main types of tumors:

Noncancerous (benign): Slow growing tumors that do not spread to other parts of the body.

Cancerous (malignant): Faster growing tumors that are more difficult to treat, and usually destroy the surrounding brain tissue.

  • Primary tumors originate in the brain and rarely spread throughout the body. They are named from the cells in which they originated, such as astrocytomas, oligodendrogliomas and ependymomas.
  • Secondary brain tumors (or brain metastases) originate from cancer cells in another part of the body and spread to the brain.

Common symptoms

Symptoms include new or increasingly strong headaches, blurred vision, loss of balance, confusion, and seizures.

 

Care team

Profiles

Gregory Brandt, MD

Pediatric Hematology Oncologist Pediatrics | Hematology-Oncology
400 N. 9th Street Springfield, IL 62702
Profiles

Jose Espinosa, MD

Neurosurgeon Neurosurgery
747 N. Rutledge Street 2nd floor Springfield, IL 62702
Profiles

Waqas Azhar, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine Cancer Care
400 N. 9th Street Springfield, IL 62702
Profiles

Janae Ballard, DNP, FNP-C

Nurse Practitioner Neurosurgery
747 N. Rutledge Street 2nd floor Springfield, IL 62702
Profiles

Devin Amin, MD

Neurosurgeon Neurosurgery
747 N. Rutledge Street 2nd floor Springfield, IL 62702
Profiles

Bruce Frankel, MD

Neurosurgeon Neurosurgery, Cancer Care
747 N. Rutledge Street 2nd floor Springfield, IL 62702
Profiles

Shadi Bsat, MD

Neurosurgeon Neurosurgery
747 N. Rutledge Street 2nd floor Springfield, IL 62702
Profiles

Alessandra Mantovani, MD

Neurosurgeon Neurosurgery
747 N. Rutledge Street 2nd floor Springfield, IL 62702
Profiles

Sydney DeSollar, DNP, FNP-C

Nurse Practitioner Neurosurgery
747 N. Rutledge Street 2nd floor Springfield, IL 62702

 

Care facilities

Locations
Locations

 

Clinical trials

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At SIU Medicine, our physicians and scientists conduct clinical trials and research studies with the aim of translating findings into new, more effective treatments.