Debunking the Myths About Diagnosis and Treatment of Brain Tumours

The Daily Battle You’re Fighting Without Knowing Why

Here’s the difficult part. Brain tumors don’t always announce themselves dramatically. There’s no sudden collapse, no obvious sign most of the time. Instead, the symptoms creep in quietly — disguised as things you’d readily explain away.

Think about how many people in Kolkata chalk up a splitting morning headache to the heat, the traffic, the stress of a government exam deadline. Or blame a sudden mood change on family tension. Or assume the occasional odd smell — a phantom scent of something burning — is just the building’s wiring playing up.

The most common brain tumor warning signs include:

• Persistent, worsening headaches — especially ones that are worst in the morning or worsen when you bend forward or cough
• Seizures in someone with no prior history of epilepsy
• Sudden personality or behaviour changes — becoming unusually irritable, apathetic, or confused
• Vision or hearing disturbances — blurred vision, double vision, ringing in the ears
• Weakness or numbness on one side of the body
• Unexplained nausea and vomiting, particularly in the morning
• Memory lapses or difficulty finding words that are new and progressive
• Not one of these symptoms, in isolation, confirms a tumor. But if several of them are appearing together, or if any of them are new, progressive, and unexplained — that’s your body asking for investigation, not just paracetamol.

One of the most important distinctions in understanding brain tumor types is benign versus malignant. A benign tumor doesn’t invade nearby tissue aggressively and doesn’t spread to other parts of the body.

A meningioma — which grows on the membranes surrounding the brain — is often benign and, in many cases, slow-growing enough to be monitored without immediate intervention. A glioblastoma, on the other hand, is malignant, fast-growing, and requires urgent, aggressive management.
The major brain tumor types you’ll encounter in medical conversations include:

• Gliomas (including glioblastoma, astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma) — originating in the glial cells of the brain
• Meningiomas — arising from the meninges; often benign and slow-growing
• Pituitary adenomas — usually benign; affect hormone regulation
• Medulloblastomas — more common in children; originate in the cerebellum
• Metastatic tumors — secondary tumors that have spread from cancers elsewhere in the body, such as the lung or breast

The type determines everything that comes next. The location matters too. A small tumor in a critical area can be harder to treat than a larger one in a more accessible region. This is exactly why a proper diagnosis isn’t just helpful — it’s the foundation of everything.

FICTION: Mobile phones cause brain tumors.
FACT: Decades of large-scale research, including WHO-coordinated studies, have found no conclusive causal link between mobile phone use and brain tumors. This myth persists, but the evidence doesn’t support it.

What Modern Medicine Actually Offers You?

This is where the fear starts to loosen its grip — if you let the facts in.

The journey from suspicion to certainty is far less frightening when you know the steps. Brain tumor diagnosis typically begins with imaging — usually an MRI with contrast, which gives a detailed picture of the brain’s structure and any unusual masses. If a mass is detected, the next step is often a CT scan or advanced MRI sequences (like MR spectroscopy or perfusion imaging) to understand its nature better.

A tissue biopsy — either stereotactic (guided by imaging) or surgical — is frequently needed to confirm the tumor type, grade, and molecular profile. This isn’t as alarming as it sounds. Stereotactic biopsies are minimally invasive, performed under anaesthesia, and carry very low risk in experienced hands. The results from a biopsy directly determine the treatment plan, which is why skipping this step “to avoid more tests” is never the right call. Good brain tumor diagnosis is the map. Without it, no journey to recovery can be properly charted.

The landscape of brain tumor treatment has changed significantly in the past two decades. Surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and increasingly, targeted molecular therapies are used — often in combination. The sequence and combination depend entirely on the tumor’s type, grade, and location, as well as the patient’s overall health.

A modern brain tumor treatment plan might include:

• Surgery: To remove as much of the tumor as safely possible
• Radiotherapy: Precision radiation (including stereotactic radiosurgery, or ‘Gamma Knife’-type techniques) to target remaining cells
• Chemotherapy: Particularly for high-grade gliomas; often given alongside radiation
• Targeted therapy: Drugs that act on specific molecular markers in the tumor
• Corticosteroids: To reduce swelling around the tumor and manage symptoms during treatment

This is where myth does the most damage. The fear that brain tumor surgery will leave a person a different human — memory gone, personality altered, unable to recognise their own family — stops people from agreeing to procedures that could save their lives.

Let’s be direct about this.

Brain tumor surgery today is not what it was thirty years ago. Neurosurgeons at advanced centres use high-powered operative microscopes that let them work with extraordinary precision, distinguishing healthy brain tissue from tumor tissue at a cellular level.

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring tracks brain function in real time during the procedure, allowing surgeons to avoid areas responsible for speech, movement, and memory. Awake craniotomy techniques — where the patient is kept conscious during part of the surgery — let surgeons verify that critical functions are preserved as they work.

Does surgery carry risks?

Yes. All surgery does. But the risk of untreated tumor growth — compression, swelling, neurological deterioration — is nearly always greater than the risk of modern surgical intervention.

FICTION: Brain surgery always causes memory loss or personality change.
FACT: With modern microsurgical techniques, neurophysiological monitoring, and precise pre-operative planning, many patients experience no significant cognitive or personality changes after surgery. Outcomes are highly dependent on the tumor’s location and the surgical team’s expertise.

At Eskag Sanjeevani: Where Skill Meets Compassion

At Eskag Sanjeevani Hospitals, Kolkata, our Neurosciences department is built around one principle: that patients facing a brain tumor diagnosis deserve not just clinical excellence, but human dignity at every step. Our neurosurgical team works with advanced operative microscopes and intraoperative monitoring systems.

Our dedicated Neuro-ICU is equipped for the intensive post-operative care that complex brain surgery demands. And our multidisciplinary tumor board — neurologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, and pathologists — evaluates every case together, so your treatment plan isn’t one doctor’s opinion but a collective, evidence-based decision.
We understand that in a city like Kolkata, where family is woven into every decision, the patient who walks in isn’t walking in alone.

We make space for that. We speak to families. We explain. We don’t just hand over reports — we sit down and walk through what they mean. Because the distance between “a tumor was found” and “here’s exactly what we’re going to do about it” is the distance that genuine care has to cross.

If you’re looking for the best neurosurgeon in Kolkata — someone who will treat your MRI report as the beginning of a conversation, not the end of one — Eskag Sanjeevani is where that conversation happens.

Book a Consultation at Eskag Sanjeevani Hospitals, because the most important thing after a difficult diagnosis is to be in the right hands.