Symptoms

People with a brain tumor may experience the following symptoms. Sometimes, people with a brain tumor do not show any of these symptoms. Or, these symptoms may be caused by a medical condition that is not a brain tumor. If you are concerned about a symptom on this list, please talk with your doctor.

Symptoms of a brain tumor can be general (due to the pressure of the tumor on the brain or spinal cord) or specific (due to the interruption of the normal functioning of a specific part of the brain). Typically, a brain tumor is not diagnosed until after symptoms begin.

General symptoms include:

• Headaches, which may be severe and may worsen with activity or in the early morning
  
  
• Seizures
  
  
• Personality or memory changes
  
  
• Nausea or vomiting
  
  
• Vision changes, such as blurred vision

Symptoms that may be specific to the location of the tumor include:

• Pressure or headache near the tumor
  
  
• Loss of balance and difficulty with fine motor skills (cerebellum)
  
  
• Changes in judgment, including loss of initiative, sluggishness, and muscle weakness or paralysis (frontal lobe of the cerebrum)
  
  
• Partial or complete loss of vision (occipital lobe or temporal lobe of the cerebrum)
  
  
• Changes in speech, hearing, memory, or emotional state, such as aggressiveness and problems understanding or retrieving words (frontal and temporal lobe of cerebrum)
  
  
• Altered perception of touch or pressure, arm or leg weakness on one side of the body, or confusion with left and right sides of the body (frontal or parietal lobe of the cerebrum)
  
  
• Inability to look upward (pineal tumor)
  
  
• Lactation and altered menstrual periods in women, and growth in hands and feet in adults (pituitary tumor)
  
  
• Difficulty swallowing, facial weakness or numbness, or double vision (brain stem)