Facts about pediatric brain tumors
- Based on data from 2005-2009, each year 4,100 more children – 11 each day – are
diagnosed with a brain tumor in the United States. The number of new cases for 2013
is estimated at approximately 4,671 (or 12.8 each day)1. - 72 percent of young people diagnosed with a brain tumor are younger than age 15.1
- Brain tumors are one of the deadliest forms of childhood cancer.
- Non-malignant/benign brain tumors can be deadly if their location in the brain
prevents surgical removal or other curative treatments. - There are more than 100 different types of brain tumors, making diagnosis very
difficult.2 - More than 612,000 people in the U.S. were living with a diagnosis of a primary brain
or central nervous system tumor in the United States in 2004. Of this number, approximately 28,000 were children with a primary brain tumor.3 - Pediatric brain tumors aren’t like those in adults. Children’s brain tumors require
specific research and different treatments. - Even though survival rates for some childhood brain tumors have increased over the
past 30 years, survivors often suffer from lifelong side effects of treatments such as
surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. - Brain tumors are located in children’s control center of thought, emotion and
movement, often resulting in long-term side effects. Survivors can have physical,
learning and emotional challenges that will limit their quality of life into adulthood. - Research that focuses specifically on pediatric brain tumors is crucial to saving
children’s lives and improving survivors’ quality of life.
1. Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS) Statistical Report, Feb. 2012
2. WHO Classification of Tumours of the Central Nervous System, World Health Organization, 4th Edition, 2007
3. Ibid.
(Revised April 2013)
