Did You Know? Video Series from the National Cancer Institute:
Brain and Other Nervous System Cancers.
Did you know that there were over 152,000 people living with
brain and other nervous system cancers
in the United States in 2013?
The nervous system includes the brain, spinal cord, and
nerves in the rest of the body.
The brain controls many important body functions, and
the spinal cord connects the brain to the nerves.
These cancers occur in the brain, the cranial nerves,
the spinal cord, and other nerve tissue.
Tumors that start in the brain or nervous system
are called primary tumors.
Tumors that start in another part of the body, such as the
breast, lung, or colon, and spread to the brain and nervous
system are called metastatic tumors.
Brain and other nervous system tumors cause problems when they
grow into or press on nearby nervous tissues.
These tumors may be either benign, meaning not
cancerous, or malignant, meaning cancerous.
Both types of tumors may cause symptoms and need treatment.
When properly treated, benign tumors
can have a good prognosis.
The prognosis for malignant tumors
depends on tumor type and grade.
This video is only about cancerous tumors that begin in
the brain, spinal cord, cranial nerves, or
other nerves in the body.
Different types of brain and other nervous system tumors can
occur in both adults and children.
The three most common types of brain and other nervous system
cancers in children are malignant pilocytic astrocytoma,
medulloblastoma, and malignant glioma, and they make up
56% of all childhood brain cancer cases.
In adults, these three types make up only 8% of cases.
A different type of tumor called glioblastoma causes 56% of adult
brain and other nervous system cancers,
but only 5% of childhood cases.
Even when tumors of the same type occur in children and
adults, they can have very different symptoms and outcomes.
Out of every 100 children diagnosed with
brain and other nervous system cancers, about 74 will still be
alive five years after diagnosis.
Out of every 100 adults diagnosed with brain and other
nervous system cancers, about 27 will be alive
five years after diagnosis.
The difference in survival between adults and children is
partly due to differences in cancer biology, including the
type of tumor they are diagnosed with.
Because survival statistics are based on large numbers of
people, they cannot be used to predict what will
happen to an individual patient.
Brain and other nervous system cancers are slightly more
common in men than in women.
These types of cancers are diagnosed most often in Whites,
followed by Hispanics, Blacks, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and
American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Anything that increases your chance of developing
a disease is called a risk factor.
Risk factors for brain and other nervous system cancers include
exposure to radiation from high-dose x-rays and from other
sources and having certain genetic syndromes such as
Von Hippel-Lindau disease or tuberous sclerosis.
Talk with your doctor about reducing your risk.
The symptoms of brain and other nervous system tumors are
not the same in every person.
Some brain tumor symptoms include morning headaches;
seizures; nausea and vomiting; vision, hearing, and speech
problems; trouble balancing or walking; changes in personality,
mood, and focus; memory problems; and
numbness or tingling in limbs.
If you have been diagnosed with brain or nervous system cancer,
visit cancer.gov/clinicaltrials to learn about clinical
trial treatment options.
Talk with your doctor to make a decision that is right for you.
For more information on brain and nervous system cancers,
go to cancer.gov or call 1-800-4-CANCER.
For more cancer statistics, go to seer.cancer.gov