Overview
Brain tumours are abnormal growths of cells arising within the brain or its surrounding structures, encompassing both benign and malignant lesions. They are classified as primary tumours, which originate from brain tissue such as glial cells, meninges, or embryonal precursors, or as secondary tumours that metastasise to the brain from cancers elsewhere in the body. Histological type and grade, ranging from low-grade lesions to aggressive malignancies, determine biological behaviour and prognosis, and examples discussed in the associated literature include medulloblastoma, frontal-lobe tumours, atypical meningiomas, and statistically characterised malignant brain neoplasms. Clinical presentation depends on tumour location and size and may include headache, seizures, focal neurological deficits, visual disturbance from lesions affecting the optic pathways, and changes in cognition or personality, the last reflecting the interface between neurosurgery and neuropsychiatry. Diagnosis relies on neuroimaging, including magnetic resonance techniques and advanced metabolic and molecular imaging, together with histopathology and contemporary tissue analysis to distinguish tumour types and to differentiate second malignancies from metastatic spread. Management combines surgical resection, radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery, and systemic therapy according to tumour type, grade, and target-volume definition. Research relevant to this topic addresses pathological characterisation, imaging-guided treatment planning, the psychopathological effects of frontal tumours, and epidemiological analysis of malignant brain neoplasms, supporting accurate diagnosis and individualised treatment of these neurologically consequential lesions.