Primary brain tumors arise from many types of brain tissue (e.g. glial cells, astrocytes, and other brain cell types). Metastatic brain cancer is caused by the spread of cancer cells from a body organ to the brain. However, the causes for the change from normal cells to cancer cells in both metastatic and primary brain tumors are not fully understood. Data gathered by research scientists show that people with certain risk factors are more likely to develop brain cancer.