Brain tumours
Dr Frank Gaillard et al.
Brain tumours arise from the normal constituents of the brain and its coverings (meninges). Spinal tumours are be considered separately.
Demographics
As a general rule, brain tumours increase in frequency with age, with individual exceptions (e.g pilocytic astrocytoma, the vast majority of which are found in young patients). There are few gender differences, except that as a general rule, gliomas are more frequent in men and meningiomas are more frequent in women.
Tumour types
There are numerous individual tumour entities which come under the umbrella term "brain tumour" (see WHO Classification of CNS tumours). They can broadly be divided into:
- neuroepithelial : 50% *
- astrocytoma : 44%
- ependymoma : 3%
- medulloblastoma : 3%
- oligodendroglioma : 2%
- meningioma : 15%
- metastases : 15%
- pituitary tumours: 8%
- acoustic schwannoma : 8%
- pineal tumours
- intracranial germ cell tumours 0.4% to 3.4% 4(around the pineal, third ventricle or suprasellar region)
*NB: figures vary widely depending on the study (figures quoted are from AH Kaye 3).
Another set of figures to ponder 5:
- overall incidence : 5 - 13 cases per 100,000
- incidence in children : 2 - 4 cases per 100,000
- 80% of all intracranial tumours are supratentorial
- 40% are metastases
- 70% of tumours in 1 year olds to adolescents are in the posterior fossa
- of supratentorial tumours
- 50% are supratentorial
- 30% are astrocytomas
- 6% are gangliogliomas
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