Brain Cancer Survival Rate

Even with incredible advances in many areas of cancer, brain cancer is still one of the least curable types. The average brain cancer survival rate is just one to two years from the time of diagnosis and initial treatment. Only between 30% and 35% of patients survive more than five years after having been diagnosed with brain cancer.

Thousands of people are diagnosed with brain cancer every year but a cure is yet to be found. The rate of new cases of brain cancer in the United States is 18 in 100,000 people annually. Each year there are around 18,000 new brain cancer cases and 13,000 deaths from brain cancer.

Even the options for treatment have remained fairly static, with only two new treatment methods having been found in the last twenty-five years.

Several factors affect the brain cancer survival rate:

• The size of the tumor when it is first diagnosed; small tumors may be easier to treat.
• The actual location of the tumor in the brain; some are easier and safer to treat than others.
• The stage the cancer has advanced to when first diagnosed; early detection greatly enhances the outcome.
• The type of cancer.
• The general health of the patient and their ability to manage the treatments.
• The patient's age – children have a much higher survival rate than adults. Children under the age of 14 years have a 73% five year survival rate; from age 15 to 44 years, the five year survival rate is 55%; from 45 to 64 years of age, it is 16% while patients over the age of 65 have just a 5% survival rate.

Survival rates for most cancers are based on a five year scale, referring to the number of patients who survive for five years after their initial diagnosis. The statistics are based on a wide group of cancer patients and are often several years old when they are being used as a benchmark for current brain cancer survival rates.

Currently, one third of brain cancer patients survive to the five year mark; African Americans have a marginally better rate of survival than Caucasians. These figures have changed very little over the last twenty five years.

Brain cancers can be malignant or benign. Malignant tumors contain cancer cells that grow and divide and can spread to other parts of the body. Benign brain tumors can also grow, but usually at a slower rate than malignant ones. Although benign brain tumors aren't dangerous like malignant ones, they can still cause problems because of the delicate nature of the brain itself.

While there have been few new treatments discovered for treating brain cancer, oncologists have discovered new ways of using the conventional treatments of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. By combining these two therapies, doctors have been able to extend the survival rate of many brain cancer patients while improving the quality of life for many more.

Advances in surgery, particularly in the field of micro-surgery, have meant that more brain tumors are operable than twenty years ago. Surgeons are continuing to fine-tune their skills in this delicate type of surgery with improving results. This gives more brain cancer patients the option of surgery as a treatment, which is often combined with chemotherapy or radiation therapy, or both.