The Forgotten Cancer

• More children and adults under 40 die of a brain tumour than from any other cancer

• 73% of brain tumour deaths occur in those under 75 compared to 47% for all other cancers

• Brain tumours receive less than 1% of the national spend on cancer research

• 16,000 people each year in the UK are diagnosed with a brain tumour

• 20% to 40% of all cancers eventually spread to the brain

• Brain cancer incidence is actually rising: 23% higher for men and 25% higher for women in 2012 than in 1970

• Brain cancer deaths are rising, unlike most other cancers - these rose 10% for women and 15% for men from 1970 to 2011

• Only 18.8% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years, compared with a 50% average for all cancers

• 58% of men and women diagnosed with brain cancer die within a year compared to 5% for breast cancer, 35% for leukaemia and 7% for prostate cancer

• Brain tumours are the most common solid tumour found in children and they kill more than leukaemia or any other cancer

• Brain tumours kill more women under the age of 35 than breast or any other cancer and 65% more women than cervical cancer

• Brain tumours are responsible for over 20 years of life lost

Additional facts:

• With more than 120 different types of tumour, brain tumours are a notoriously difficult disease to diagnose

• Brain tumour research is woefully under-funded and treatments lag seriously behind other cancers

• Our understanding of other cancers does not readily translate to brain tumours

• Patient personality changes that can occur as a result of a brain tumour cause massive family disruption

• The commercialisation of universities and introduction of performance grading to determine funding, along with the merger of larger cancer charities focused on more pervasive cancers, has dramatically reduced the funds available for brain tumour research

• Much more research is needed to discover the cause of brain tumours and to understand their behaviour