Diseases We Treat
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What is a skull base tumor?
A skull base tumor is a growth that occurs along the undersurface of the brain. These can originate from the brain itself, tissue around the brain known as the dura, the bone of the skull, or neighboring structures such as the eyes, sinuses, throat, or ears for example. The cause of most brain and skull base tumors is unknown, but is presumed to due to genetic alterations of normal tissue at the site of origin. Although there are extremely rare genetic familial syndromes, the vast majority of genetic alterations are unknown, but our researchers and others are exploring these issues.
Benign versus Malignant Skull Base Tumors
Many different tumors can occur at the skull base. Depending
on the location, certain types of tumors are more likely to occur than others.
Clues obtained from the patient history, examination, and radiologic imaging,
can help predict the type of tumor present. Ultimately, a biopsy will confirm
the diagnosis. Some tumors are benign,
which means that although they may expand, they are not expected to invade into
surrounding tissues or spread. Malignant
tumors are those types of tumors which may invade into nearby