What characterizes Anaplastic Astrocytoma?
Anaplastic Astrocytoma grows quickly and often spreads into nearby areas of the brain. It can infiltrate into adjacent areas of brain tissue as small fingers of cells, or even individual cells. This makes it nearly impossible in most patients to achieve surgical removal of each cancer cell. Therefore, the tumor often recurs, or comes back. These tumors may occur in areas of the brain that control speech, vision or motor functions. For this reason, surgery may come with the risk of disability, depending on where the tumor is located in the brain. Symptoms depend on the location of the tumor within the brain. Common symptoms include headaches that are worse in the morning and improve during the day, seizures, mental or personality changes, nausea and vomiting, drowsiness, and vision problems.
