Piper betel is a member of the family Piperaceae, commonly known as Sirih (Malaysia and
Indonesia), Paan (India and Bangladesh), Betel (English) and Phlu (Thailand). It is widely found and
grown in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, other Southeast Asian and East African
countries. Piper betel is widely used throughout the world even in modern days due to its known
medicinal properties. Betel plant contains various biologically active compounds, which are
responsible for its numerous pharmacological actions. The therapeutic profile reveals Piper betel to
have a high potential for treating many diseases and conditions such as chronic renal disease,
atherosclerosis, and diabetes mellitus. Further studies of betel plant are recommended to focus on
the variety of metabolic activities in human, thus, improving its usage medically that will be beneficial
to humanity.
Brain tumour occurrence in Malaysia demonstrates an increasing trend from year to year among adults and the second most common cancer among children. Thus, the expansion of numerous research for novel therapy and treatment are necessary. The distribution of brain tumour in a specific population is important to provide substantial information about the current trends for developing new diagnostic technique and research. Consequently, this study is opted to provide descriptive data of brain tumour in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). 217 brain tumour cases were collected from the hospital record between 2011 and 2014. The brain tumour cases were confirmed by pathologists according to WHO classification and grading. Descriptive analysis was evaluated by using Microsoft Excel and IBM SPSS version 22. Gender preponderance in this study shows very little difference. The most common adult primary brain tumour in this study was meningioma (32.7%) followed by glioblastoma (7.8%), a type of diffuse astrocytic tumour. According to age factor, brain tumour distribution pattern shows an increasing trend as the age increases and meningioma is the most common among the elder patients. Secondary tumour takes more than 10% from overall percentage of brain tumour cases. In conclusion, the descriptive data presentation in this study is very helpful to provide baseline information on the current brain tumour occurrence in this region.