Brain tumor epidemiology and demographics

Overview
Epidemiological record suggests a growing share each year of infants and children in the United States affected by brain tumors.

Epidemiology and Demographics
It is estimated that 22,340 new cases of primary malignant brain and central nervous system (CNS) tumors will be diagnosed in the United States in 2011; of those, approximately 3,000 will be new cases of childhood primary brain and CNS tumors.The incidence and mortality rates for cancers that originate in the brain and CNS have decreased slightly in the past decade. Both incidence and mortality rates are substantially higher for whites than for people of other racial/ethnic groups. In all racial/ethnic groups, men have higher incidence and mortality rates than women. Brain tumors are the leading cause of death from solid tumor cancers in children; brain and CNS cancers make up approximately 27 percent of all childhood cancers. The incidence rate of brain and CNS cancers in children has risen slightly over the past three decades, but the death rate has dropped slightly over this period. It is estimated that approximately $3.7 billion is spent in the United States each year on brain cancer treatment.

Incidence


 * CBTRUS(Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States): The incidence rate of all primary malignant and non-malignant brain and central nervous system tumors is 19.9 cases per 100,000 person–years (7.3 per 100,000 person–years for malignant tumors and 12.5 per 100,000 person–years for non–malignant tumors). The rate is higher in females (21.3 per 100,000 person–years) than males (18.3 per 100,000 person–years)
 * CBTRUS: An estimated 66,290 new cases of primary non–malignant and malignant brain and central nervous system tumors are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2012.
 * SEER: The incidence rate of primary malignant brain and central nervous system tumors (excluding lymphomas, leukemias, tumors of pituitary and pineal glands, and olfactory tumors of the nasal cavity) for the years 2004-2008 is 6.5 cases per 100,000 person–years. This rate is higher in males (7.7 per 100,000 person–years) than females (5.4 per 100,000 person–years).
 * SEER: The incidence rate of primary non-malignant brain and central nervous system tumors for the years 2004-2008 is 12.8 cases per 100,000 person–years. In contrast to malignant brain and central nervous system tumors, this rate is higher in females (15.3 per 100,000 person–years) than males (10.1 per 100,000 person– years).
 * ACS(American Cancer Society): An estimated 22,910 new cases of primary malignant brain and central nervous system tumors are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2012 (12,630 in males and 10,280 in females). This represents 1.4% of all primary malignant cancers expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2012.
 * IARC(International Agency on Research on Cancer): The worldwide incidence rate of primary malignant brain and central nervous system tumors in 2002, age–adjusted using the world standard population, is 3.7 per 100,000 person–years in males and 2.6 per 100,000 person–years in females. This represents an estimated 108,277 males and 81,305 females who were diagnosed with a primary malignant brain tumor in 2002, an overall total of 189,582 individuals. The incidence rates are higher in more developed countries (males: 5.8 per 100,000 person–years; females: 4.1 per 100,000 person–years) than in less developed countries (males: 3.0 per 100,000 person–years; females: 2.1 per 100,000 person–years).
 * CBTRUS: CBTRUS has calculated a worldwide estimate of 186,678 newly diagnosed primary non–malignant brain and central nervous system tumors per annum for 2002 (males: n=80,759; females: n=105,918).

Pediatric Incidence (Ages 0-19)


 * CBTRUS: The incidence rate of childhood primary non–malignant and malignant brain and central nervous system tumors is 5.0 cases per 100,000 person–years. The rate is higher in males (5.1 per 100,000 person–years) than females (5.0 per 100,000 person–years).
 * CBTRUS: An estimated 4,200 new cases of childhood primary non–malignant and malignant brain and central nervous system tumors are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2012. Of these 4,200 new cases, an estimated 3,020 will be in children less than 15 years of age.

Mortality


 * ACS(American Cancer Society): An estimated 13,700 deaths will be attributed to primary malignant brain and central nervous system tumors in the United States in 2012. Mortality is higher in females than males.

Lifetime Risk


 * SEER: From birth, males have a 0.7% lifetime risk of ever being diagnosed with a primary malignant brain/central nervous system tumor and 0.5% chance of dying from a brain/central nervous system tumor (excluding lymphomas, leukemias, tumors of pituitary and pineal glands, and olfactory tumors of the nasal cavity).


 * SEER: From birth, females have a 0.5% lifetime risk of ever being diagnosed with a primary malignant brain/central nervous system tumor and a 0.4% chance of dying from a brain/central nervous system tumor (excluding lymphomas, leukemias, tumors of pituitary and pineal glands, and olfactory tumors of the nasal cavity).

Survival


 * SEER(Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results): The five–year relative survival rate following diagnosis of a primary malignant brain and central nervous system tumor (including lymphomas and leukemias, tumors of the pituitary and pineal glands, and olfactory tumors of the nasal cavity) is 32.3% for males and 35.5% for females (1995–2008 data).


 * SEER: Five–year relative survival rates following diagnosis of a primary malignant brain and central nervous system tumor (including lymphomas and leukemias, tumors of the pituitary and pineal glands, and olfactory tumors of the nasal cavity) by age of diagnosis (1995–2008 data):

Brain tumors in infants and children
In 2000 approximately 2.76 children per 100,000 will be affected by a CNS tumor in the United States each year. This rate has been increasing and by 2005 was 3.0 children per 100,000. This is approximately 2,500-3,000 pediatric brain tumors occurring each year in the US. The tumor incidence is increasing by about 2.7% per year. The CNS Cancer survival rate in children is approximately 60%. However, this rate varies with the age of onset (younger has higher mortality) and cancer type.

In children under 2, about 70% of brain tumors are medulloblastoma, ependymoma, and low-grade glioma. Less commonly, and seen usually in infants, are teratoma and atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor.