Every year, about 100,000 people in the United States and 10,000 people in Canada will be diagnosed with a metastatic or primary brain tumor. http://www.rfsafe.com/brain_tumors.htm

About 10,000 Americans develop primary or metastatic spinal cord tumors every year. Spinal cord tumors are most common in young and middle-aged adults. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/pubs/

brain_tumor_hope_through_research.htm In most parts of the body, benign tumors are usually not very harmful. However, this is not generally true for tumors in the brain and spinal cord. The brain and spinal cord are the most important parts of the central nervous system (CNS). These parts are located within bones in the body, so any abnormal growth can place pressure on sensitive tissues and damage body functions. Any tumor located near vital brain structures of spinal cord nerves are threatening to health and can be very painful. A tumor that is found deep inside the brain is very dangerous. Surgery to remove such a tumor would be dangerous because of the large possibility that vital brain centers would be damaged.

Ý Tumors are irregular masses of tissues in which cells grow and multiply uncontrollably. The immune system recognizes that these cells are to be destroyed. It is the failure of the immune system that allows these irregular cells to continue their growth. Currently, there is no cure or prevention for brain and spinal cord tumors. This is because researchers do not know what causes the tumors to take place. A tumor which is deep in the brain is very difficult to remove without an excessive risk or neurological damage. Parts of the brain surrounding the tumor will have to be broken and damaged if the tumor is to be destroyed. Any type of tumor in the brain, including benign tumors, are harmful and should be removed as soon as possible. Benign tumors are slow growing, and are harmless in most parts of the body, although they are harmful to the brain. Malignant tumors in the brain are called anaplastic astrocytomas, and cause mutations of the astro cells in the brain. Another type of tumor which may occur in the brain is a gliostoma multiform. Of more than thirty types of different tumors, glioblastoma multiform is the most severe and the most common. About 30% of all primary brain tumors diagnosed are glioblastomas. Surgery for removing this type of brain tumor is not only dangerous, but may not even be useful or effective long time. Doctors who perform the surgery may cut out most of the tumor, but in order for a tumor to be gone for a longer time, the whole tumor must be destroyed. The microscopic tentacles of the tumor, are invisible but work like the roots of a plant. Removing the visible part of this tumor would be like cutting off the visible part of a plant; the tumor always comes back as long as its microscopic tentacles are kept.

http://home.earthlink.net/~sdepesa/gbmguide.htm

 http://www.bogler.net/lab/fr_intro.html Currently, there are no effective therapies existing for most types of glioma. They concentrate on researching on the molecular alterations that start gliomas and make them continue. The laboratory tries to make as much of its research available to all people, including scientists and medical professionals. The Brain Tumor Biology Laboratory has researched on many things and found out about the loss of p53 and how it affects the phases of the gliomagenesis, early formation of brain tumors http://www.bogler.net/lab/fr_intro.html, certain genes that are shown in malignant astrocytes and human brain tumors but hard to find in normal brains,

Another organization, one that focuses only on the research and treatment of childhood cancer is the St. Jude Childrenís Research Hospital, located in Memphis Tennessee. Their treatment procedures are centered on the specific medical needs of children, and they are both a pediatric hospital and a research institute. The members in the St. Jude academic departments accomplish an extensive range of research, which includes investigation of disease pathogenesis, therapeutic trials, and discover-oriented basic science. Their built-in research programs have been supported by the National Institutes of Health since 1965, and the amount of money spent on research continues increasing. http://www.stjude.org/newhp/research.html Top scientists work with clinicians to find preventions and cures of tumors in children, including many types of brain tumors. http://www.stjude.org/diseasestudies/brain.html They support well-trained young scientists and clinical investigators so they can improve the future of biomedical research.

Increasingly more people are being diagnosed with brain tumors every year. Approximately 9% of all primary brain tumors take place in people under age 20. http://www.cbtrus.org/1990-1994/report.htm Having a brain or spinal cord tumor is a painful and inconvenient experience. For example, Helen Kelesi was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and had painful headaches, vision problems, lost her sense of smell, and other difficulties caused by the brain tumor. Other symptoms brain tumors can cause are nausea and vomiting, loss of movement, seizures, speech difficulty, hearing loss, and memory problems. Brain tumors affect young children with headaches, vomiting, drowsiness, eye problems, restricted weakness, seizures, glandular problems, and personality changes. Infants with brain tumors may have soft spots, head enlargements, and bad temper in infants. http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/pednsurg/disorder/braintum.htm

Something even worse than the symptoms is that a large percentage of people with brain tumors do not survive for a long time. Approximately 13,000 people die every year from a brain tumor in the United States, and brain tumors are the third leading cause of death from cancer in people ages 20 to 39. The percentage of people who survive for at least five years after being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor is only 31.3% for males and 30.2% for females. http://neurosurgery.emory.edu/Brain%20tumor%20facts.htm

Spinal chord tumors can be as painful as brain tumors. A tumor activates certain nerves to the brain by putting pressure on the spinal chord. when this happens, the person feels pain coming from certain parts of the body, which is frequently continuous and may be severe sometimes. People with spinal cord tumors have a loss of skin sensitivity and suffer from numbness. They also suffer from having weaker muscles, stiffly contracted muscles that are hard to control, and weakened bladder control. The symptoms may worsen when they are not treated, and will then include muscle wasting and paralysis. Patients with spinal chord tumors also experience other motor problems. http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1680.50612

The problem of brain tumors and spinal cord tumors that cannot be effectively cured cause an economical problem for people, especially for those with such tumors. Treatment for any brain or spinal cord tumors are very expensive, particularly when surgery must be done below the bones. The cost of treating a glioblastoma with surgery, radiation, and modern chemotherapy, including hospitalizations and other costs can cost more than $450,000 in the United States, just for one person. http://www.braintumorfoundation.org/insurance.cfm If brain tumors were all covered by insurance, everyone would be paying more medical insurance just for the people who had these expensive tumors, even if they did not know any of these people. This would have a negative effect on the economy of the nation. Millions of dollars are donated for surgery and research for brain and spinal cord tumors every year. Examples are the Nick Eric Wichman Foundation, which recently donated $40,000 to the Childrenís Hospital of Pittsburgh in support of brain tumor research http://www.chp.edu/pressroom/newsrelease45.php, a group of motorcyclists give $223,185 in donations to help the Pediatric Brian Tumor Foundation of the United States http://www.pbtfus.org/newsletters/issue13/Page_7/page_7.html, Bike for Life donated $2,000 to the Brain Tumor Foundation, The Ronald L. Bittner Memorial Golf Classic raised $120,000 in just the year 2000 tournament http://www.bittnergolf.org/pages/About.html, Ride for Kids raised $102,000 to help find the cause and cure of pediatric brain tumors in just one day http://www.mxuniverse.com/ridehondakids.htm, and Golfers Against Cancer gave $100,000 to promote brain cancer research http://www.golfersagainstcancer.org/wnew216d.html. These are only a few of the groups that each donate thousands of dollars to try to help people with brain tumors. If our invention worked, these groups would not have to donate so much money to help those with brain or spinal cord tumors, because most people with tumors would be able to use our innovative tumor-removing robots, which will be less expensive.