Facts about Childhood Brain Tumors

Cancer is the leading disease killer of children—more than the next five diseases (asthma, diabetes, AIDS, cystic fibrosis, and congenital defects) combined.¹

Brain tumors are the leading cause of death from childhood cancer, accounting for 24 percent of cancer-related deaths in 1997 among persons up to 19. ²

Each year, around 3,400 new cases of pediatric brain tumors are diagnosed in the United States. ³ That is approximately 26% percent of all pediatric cancer diagnoses, or nine children per day who are diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Long-term, over 40% of children diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor will die from the disease, treatment, or its complications. ⁴

However, for some pediatric brain tumors (e.g., brain stem gliomas [such as ependymoma], atypical teritoid/rhabdoid and glioblastoma multifome), long-term survival rates remain below 20 percent. ⁵

Because brain tumors are located at the control center for thought, emotion and movement, their effects on a child's physical and cognitive abilities can be devastating. ⁶

76 percent of children diagnosed with a brain tumor are younger than 15. ⁵

There are more than 120 different types of brain tumors, making effective treatment very complicated. ⁵

Notes

1. CureSearch (www.curesearch.org)

2. Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation website < www.pbtfus.org/medcomm/research/Pediatric-brain-tumor-facts-updated.html >, which references the Report of the Brain Tumor Progress Review Group ; published in 2000 by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Neurological Diseases and Stroke.)

3. Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS) report, Primary Brain Tumors in the United States, 2004-2005.

4. Oncology, medical journal of the National Cancer Institute, March 1998; and the National Cancer Institute.

5. Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation website < www.pbtfus.org/medcomm/research/Pediatric-brain-tumor-facts-updated.html >.

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