Understanding your diagnosis
Your specialist gets a lot of information about your brain tumour from your test results.
Your specialist uses this information to explain how the tumour could affect you in the future (your prognosis), and what your treatment options are.
What you need to know
About primary brain and spinal cord tumours
Primary brain and spinal cord tumours start in the brain or spinal cord.
They are not the same as secondary brain and spinal cord tumours, also known as metastases. These occur when cancer from another part of the body spreads to the brain or spinal cord. For example, breast cancer that spreads to the brain is metastatic breast cancer and not a primary brain tumour.
Things that affect how a primary brain and spinal cord tumour is likely to behave include:
- the type of cells it started in (tumour type)
- whether it is likely to grow and spread (tumour grade)
- the location within the brain or spinal cord.
- the person’s age
- the symptoms they have
- whether a gene mutation is identified in the tumour
- whether the tumour can be removed by surgery.
Types of primary brain and spinal cord tumours
There are many types of brain and spinal cord tumours, which are named after the type of cells the tumour started in.
Many brain and spinal cord tumours are gliomas, which start in glial cells.
Types of glioma include:
- astrocytoma – including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)
- oligodendroglioma
- ependymoma.
Other non-glioma tumours include:
- meningioma
- medulloblastoma
- pituitary gland tumour
- schwannoma.
Brain and spinal cord tumour grade
The grade of a tumour is based on how abnormal the cells look under a microscope, and how quickly they are growing and dividing. This information shows how likely the tumour is to grow and spread.
Brain and spinal cord tumours do not usually spread to other parts of the body, but they can spread to other areas of the brain and spinal cord.
Brain and spinal cord tumours are divided into 4 grades:
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Grade |
Cell appearance |
Tumour behaviour |
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I |
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II |
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III |
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IV |
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Low-grade tumours may sometimes be described as benign (non-cancerous) tumours, and high-grade tumours can be described as malignant (cancerous) tumours. However, these descriptions are not as clear cut for brain and spinal cord tumours as they are for tumours in other parts of the body.
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What to ask or talk about
Talking about prognosis
Prognosis means what is likely to happen to you in the future because of your cancer. You may find it hard to talk about prognosis but it can help you make decisions about the treatment and care you want.
Everyone’s cancer is different, and everyone responds differently to treatment. Because of this, doctors can’t tell you exactly what will happen to you. Instead, they can give you the best information they have about what to expect.
Doctors work out prognosis based on statistics. These show what happens in large groups of people with cancer. They cannot predict what will happen to you or any other individual person.
Checklists
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Next steps
Treatment planning
Your specialist will share information about you and your cancer with a multidisciplinary team (MDT) to decide the best treatment options for you.
You may need more than one type of treatment or have a choice of treatments. You may also need to see other specialists during treatment planning.
Dealing with your diagnosis
Getting a cancer diagnosis is very distressing for the person with cancer, and their carers, family and friends. Different people react in different ways. They can be upset and angry or just in shock. Many people find it difficult to take in all the information and understand what it will mean for them.
The situation can be especially difficult for people who get a diagnosis of advanced cancer.
If you need to speak to someone about your diagnosis, you can call the Cancer Council on 13 11 20.
Other resources we recommend
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Cancer Council Mon-Fri 9am-5pm13 11 20
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Rare Cancers Australia Monday - Friday1800 257 600
