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The brain is a complex organ made up of many different cells and parts. Many types of cancer can form in the brain. The type of brain tumor a person has depends on where it began and the cells it is made of. Doctors call cancer that begins in the brain a primary brain tumor.
The way in which the brain tumor grows and affects the different functions of the body is its pathophysiology. Brain tumors usually do not spread, or metastasize, outside of the brain. Instead, they have a special way of growing and moving throughout the brain.
Cancer in the brain that has spread from other types of cancer is not considered brain cancer. They are still the same type of cancer as where they started. For instance, lung cancer that has spread to the brain isn’t called brain cancer; it is called metastatic lung cancer.