How common are primary brain tumors?
Data from 2007 indicated there were 20,000 new primary brain tumor cases in the United States. Brain tumors account for only 2 percent of all cancers and are one-fifth as common as breast or lung cancer. The real tragedy however is that prognosis is dismal and the five-year survival rate for malignant brain tumors is 33 percent. Children or young adults with brain tumors do better than older adults. Are we getting any better at treating malignant brain tumors? Not really. Overall survival in patients with malignant brain tumors has not improved significantly over the last 50 years. This is partly due to the fact that brain cells are slow growing, and so don’t respond well to chemotherapy or radiation no matter how many new therapies we throw at them. What factors affect prognosis? Young age and high performance status are favorable prognostic factors. Additionally, long duration of symptoms, absence of mental status changes, small tumor size and completeness of surgical resection help
