The condition

• Because of their location at the control centre for thought, emotion and physical function, brain tumours are difficult to treat.
• Brain tumours can cause seizures, memory loss, deafness and lack of coordination among many other side effects.
• Currently, brain tumours cannot be prevented because their cause is still unknown.
• There are more than 120 different types of brain tumours, making effective treatment very complicated.
• Brain tumours are currently treated by surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Prevalence

• Brain tumours have recently overtaken leukaemia as the most common malignancy and cause of death in children. There is a 5 – 10% annual increase in paediatric brain tumours.
• Around 4,500 new cases of primary brain tumours are diagnosed in the UK each year.
• A lack of funding and research into the treatment of malignant brain tumours means that survival rates are no better than they were 40 years ago.
• Brain tumours are the second most common cause of neurological death (after stroke).