Brain Cancer

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Brain Cancer

Brain tumors do not discriminate. Primary brain tumors – those that begin in the brain and tend to stay in the brain – occur in people of all ages, but they are statistically more frequent in children and older adults. Metastatic brain tumors – those that begin as a cancer elsewhere in the body and spread to the brain – are more common in adults than children.

By the Numbers: Critical Brain Tumor Statistics

  • Nearly 80,000 new cases of primary brain tumors are expected to be diagnosed this year. Approximately one-third or 32% of brain and CNS tumors are malignant.

  • This includes more than 25,000 primary malignant and 53,000 non-malignant brain tumors.

  • There are approximately 700,000 people in the U.S. living with a primary brain and central nervous system tumor.

  • This year, more than 16,000 people will lose their battle with a primary malignant and central nervous system brain tumor.

  • Survival after diagnosis with a primary brain tumor varies significantly by age, histology, molecular markers and tumor behavior.

  • There are more than 120 histologically or molecularly distinct types of primary brain and central nervous system tumors.
Brain Tumors By Age:

  • The median age at diagnosis for all primary brain tumors is 59 years.

  • Brain tumors are the most common cancer occurring among those age 0-14, and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children (males and females) age 0-14, according to a 2016 report that places brain tumors in children above leukemia for both statistics.

  • It is estimated that more than 4,600 children and adolescents between the ages of 0-19 will be diagnosed with a primary brain tumor this year.

  • Brain and CNS tumors are the third most common cancer occurring among adolescents and young adults (ages 15-39) and the third most common cause of cancer death in this age group.


Source of information: Brain Cancer Tumor Association – www.abta.org.