Benign brain tumors - Can benign tumors have so called 'seeds' that can break off and spread

Hi, Before answering your questions, I would just like to give a brief background about the classification of brain tumors. Brain tumors are classified as primary if they originated from the brain itself, and secondary (or metastatic) if they came from some other organ (e.g. lungs, breast, kidneys, skin). Secondary brain cancers are by definition, malignant, since these are actually metastatic from a site outside the brain. Most of the primary brain tumors originate from glial cells. These are the cells which provide nutrition and other forms of support to the nerve cells in the brain. There are many types of glial cells (example: astrocytes, ependymal cells, oligodendrocytes, etc.) and the primary brain tumor is named after which glial cell it was derived from (e.g. astrocytoma, ependymoma, oligodendroglioma, etc). The term”benign”, when applied to primary brain tumors, may be a misnomer. Slow-growing or low-grade gliomas are considered as benign, but some of these tumors – low grade astrocytomas in particular – can infiltrate surrounding normal tissue and can later progress into frankly malignant types. I would prefer to think of the “benign” or “malignant” types of primary brain tumors not as distinct entities but as a spectrum of malignancy, with “benign” lesions which rarely metastasize on one end and the aggressive high grade malignancies on the other end. Bearing this in mind, it is not surprising to see “benign” brain tumors get a type of treatment which is more extensive (e.g. radiation involving the “entire spine”) and is seemingly more appropriate for “malignant” types. Tumors (whether benign or malignant) develop as a result of certain mutations in the genes of cells which regulate the cell’s life span and ability to multiply. Typically, the mutations occur only in a very small number of cells (sometimes, just one or two cells get mutations). Because of the mutation, this small focus of cells begin to multiply faster than usual, eventually resulting in a tumor which is big enough to be noticed by MRI or CT scan. With some tumors, however, the mutation does not happen to just a few cells, but to the whole class of cells with a similar histologic type. Such a phenomenon can happen with glial cells in the brain, resulting in multiple foci of brain tumor. This may explain the fact that your son had two benign tumors occurring at the same time. Technically speaking, benign tumors do not have the ability to “seed” or metastasize. The ability to “break off and spread” to distant areas is what differentiates malignant from benign lesions. I hope the explanation helps.

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