What is Brain Cancer?

Cancer cells are abnormal cells that divide too often and without any order. A brain tumor is a mass of unnecessary cells growing in the brain. Tumors can be either benign or malignant. Cancer is the name given to a malignant tumor.

Tumors which start in the brain are called primary brain tumors and are classified according to the kind of cell from which the tumor seems to originate or the part of the brain in which they begin. The most common primary brain tumors are gliomas which begin in glial cells.

Cancer from other parts of the body can spread to the brain and cause secondary tumors through a process called metastasis.