An estimated 25,000 adults in the United States are diagnosed each year with primary cancerous tumors of the brain and spinal cord. More than 180,000 are living with brain and other nervous system cancers.
Brain tumors are relatively rare in children, with roughly 5,200 new cases diagnosed each year in persons ages 0 to 19, but they are the most common type of solid childhood cancer and second only to leukemia as the cause of pediatric malignancies.
Brain and other nervous system cancers are the 10th leading cause of death for men and women. With treatment, the 5-year relative survival rate is almost 36%, higher for younger patients, though some brain tumors, such as glioblastoma multiforme, are especially aggressive, with a 5-year survival rate of just 6.9%.
Treatments are diverse, from surgery (usually a first option) to radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and clinical trials testing investigational drugs or procedures.
The lifetime risk of developing a brain or nervous system cancer is approximately 0.6%.
Brain Cancer
Research at Sanford Burnham Prebys
Experts Available

Lukas Chavez PhD

Jerold Chun MD, PhD

Angela Liou MD

Charles Spruck PhD
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Greg Calhoun
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gcalhoun@sbpdiscovery.org
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slafee@spbdiscovery.org