WORLD BRAIN TUMOUR STATISTICS

 

BACKGROUND: When a person is diagnosed with a brain tumour they and their family are often curious to know how many other people are similarly afflicted. To obtain an estimate of the worldwide incidence of brain tumours the International Brain Tumour Alliance (IBTA) approached the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS) in late 2006 and sought its help to identify the relevant statistics. In turn, the CBTRUS involved its academic researchers in a study of the subject. An international teleconference and two meetings took place in Chicago between IBTA and CBTRUS officials during 2007 in which the research study was further refined and discussed.

 

As a starting point CBTRUS studied the GLOBCAN 2002 database to isolate statistics relating to CNS tumours, it being the most recently available collection of world figures.

 

The IBTA then asked CBTRUS to undertake forward projections to identify a more contemporary estimate and they estimated a figure of 200,697 for 2005 (see below). This is the basis for the figure of at least 200,000 primary, malignant brain tumours.

 

The IBTA also asked CBTRUS to estimate the worldwide number of primary non-malignant brain tumours and they have come up with an estimate of 187,884. More detail about that aspect of the study project will be made public by CBTRUS in late 2007.

 

We were also curious to know the statistics for metastatic brain tumours (i.e. brain tumours that arise from a cancer elsewhere in the body) but CBTRUS and its researchers advised that it was “unlikely that modeling templates are available”. 

 

We hope that the work undertaken by CBTRUS on behalf of the IBTA will constitute a contribution to the overall knowledge about brain tumours and will help inform researchers and the general community.

 

 

Denis Strangman

Chair

Kathy Oliver

Secretary

 

21 October 2007

 

Incidence Rates and Counts for the World-wide Incidence of Primary Malignant Brain, Nervous System Cancer, GLOBOCAN 2002.

 

 

Rate*

Count

 

Overall

Male

Female

Overall

Male

Female

World,

Malignant

na

3.7

2.6

189,582

108,277

81,305

 

*Per 100,000 and age-standardized to the World standard.

 

na: not available to compute in GLOBOCAN 2002

 

Note:

Incidence may be underestimated in the less developed countries.  

 

The World standard has a different age distribution and structure than the US 2000, European, and other standard populations. Thus, comparison of these rates to rates computed using other standard populations for age-adjustment is not recommended. 

 

 “Brain, nervous system” is defined by International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICDO) topography codes C70-C72, which includes the brain, meninges, spinal cord, cranial nerves and other parts of the nervous system.  It does not include brain lymphomas or tumors of the pituitary gland, craniopharyngeal duct, and pineal gland.

 

World rates have been estimated as the population-weighted average of:

 

Eastern Africa, Middle Africa, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Western Africa, Caribbean, Central America, South America, Northern America, Eastern Asia, South-Eastern Asia, South-Central Asia, Western Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia

 

Reference:

J. Ferlay, F. Bray, P. Pisani and D.M. Parkin.

GLOBOCAN 2002

Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide

IARC CancerBase No. 5, version 2.0

IARCPress, Lyon, 2004.

 

 

 

Incidence Rates for the World-wide and Regional Incidence of Primary Malignant Brain, Nervous System Cancer, GLOBOCAN 2002

Rates are per 100,000

Incidence: ASR (World), All ages

Brain, nervous system-Male

Brain, nervous system-Female

World

     3.7

     2.6

More developed countries

     5.8

     4.1

Less developed countries

     3.0

     2.1

Northern America

     6.5

     4.5

Africa

     1.4

     1.2

Asia

     3.0

     2.1

Central and South America, Caribbean

     4.5

     3.4

Europe

     6.1

     4.3

Australia/New Zealand and Pacific

     6.0

     3.9

 

 

World Number of Cases, Deaths and Prevalence Counts for Primary Malignant Brain, Nervous System Cancer, GLOBOCAN 2002.

 

Brain, nervous system-Both sexes (All ages)

Cases

Deaths

1-year prev. cases

3-year prev. cases

5-year prev. cases

World

  189582

  141723

   88462

  199361

  276564

More developed countries

   74549

   56926

   38078

   85211

  116229

Less developed countries

  114735

   84578

   50384

  114150

  160335

Eastern Africa

    3087

    2444

    1493

    3343

    4618

Middle Africa

     178

     132

      29

      67

      87

Northern Africa

    2528

    2057

    1183

    2607

    3558

Southern Africa

     582

     475

     268

     592

     812

Western Africa

    1828

    1447

     941

    2143

    2966

Caribbean

    1124

     911

     479

    1050

    1429

Central America

    3595

    2413

    1616

    3556

    4855

South America

   14310

   10836

    6493

   14142

   19151

Northern America

   21126

   14943

   12593

   28231

   38251

Eastern Asia

   50585

   33027

   20883

   49883

   73443

South-Eastern Asia

    6836

    5381

    3170

    7096

    9773

South Central Asia

   27089

   21899

   12824

   28177

   38276

Western Asia

    6584

    5322

    3068

    6785

    9263

Eastern Europe

   15196

   14049

    7365

   16386

   22343

Northern Europe

    7171

    5510

    3036

    6801

    9318

Southern Europe

   12063

    8528

    5543

   11921

   15907

Western Europe

   13955

   10974

    6812

   14997

   20234

Australia/New Zealand

    1661

    1309

     636

    1509

    2167

 

 

 

 

Brain, nervous system-Male (All ages)

Cases

Deaths

1-year prev. cases

3-year prev. cases

5-year prev. cases

World

  108277

   80084

   50736

  113995

  157689

More developed countries

   41361

   31469

   21452

   47614

   64450

Less developed countries

   66747

   48494

   29284

   66381

   93239

Eastern Africa

    1555

    1242

     748

    1668

    2308

Middle Africa

      85

      63

      17

      38

      48

Northern Africa

    1509

    1228

     699

    1538

    2099

Southern Africa

     323

     261

     150

     335

     460

Western Africa

     812

     634

     459

    1062

    1482

Caribbean

     629

     512

     270

     597

     810

Central America

    2054

    1350

     927

    2044

    2794

South America

    7863

    5821

    3631

    7930

   10744

Northern America

   11908

    8339

    7228

   16199

   21902

Eastern Asia

   29555

   18721

   12167

   29103

   42864

South-Eastern Asia

    3933

    3108

    1805

    4015

    5503

South Central Asia

   16798

   13605

    7922

   17391

   23618

Western Asia

    3638

    2940

    1654

    3640

    4956

Eastern Europe

    8150

    7535

    3972

    8567

   11393

Northern Europe

    4002

    3134

    1715

    3776

    5116

Southern Europe

    6578

    4717

    3001

    6430

    8553

Western Europe

    7867

    6067

    3954

    8671

   11616

Australia/New Zealand

     970

     764

     391

     929

    1335

 

 

Brain, nervous system-Female (All ages)

Cases

Deaths

1-year prev. cases

3-year prev. cases

5-year prev. cases

World

   81305

   61639

   37726

   85366

  118875

More developed countries

   33188

   25457

   16626

   37597

   51779

Less developed countries

   47988

   36084

   21100

   47769

   67096

Eastern Africa

    1532

    1202

     745

    1675

    2310

Middle Africa

      93

      69

      12

      29

      39

Northern Africa

    1019

     829

     484

    1069

    1459

Southern Africa

     259

     214

     118

     257

     352

Western Africa

    1016

     813

     482

    1081

    1484

Caribbean

     495

     399

     209

     453

     619

Central America

    1541

    1063

     689

    1512

    2061

South America

    6447

    5015

    2862

    6212

    8407

Northern America

    9218

    6604

    5365

   12032

   16349

Eastern Asia

   21030

   14306

    8716

   20780

   30579

South-Eastern Asia

    2903

    2273

    1365

    3081

    4270

South Central Asia

   10291

    8294

    4902

   10786

   14658

Western Asia

    2946

    2382

    1414

    3145

    4307

Eastern Europe

    7046

    6514

    3393

    7819

   10950

Northern Europe

    3169

    2376

    1321

    3025

    4202

Southern Europe

    5485

    3811

    2542

    5491

    7354

Western Europe

    6088

    4907

    2858

    6326

    8618

Australia/New Zealand

     691

     545

     245

     580

     832

 

World Mortality Rates for Primary Malignant Brain, Nervous System Cancer, GLOBOCAN 2002.

 

Brain, nervous system: Mortality-Female

 0-14

15-44

45-54

55-64

 65+

All ages

ASR (World)

World

    0.59

    0.96

    3.22

    5.56

    8.37

     2.0

     2.0

More developed countries

    0.80

    1.26

    4.28

    8.01

   11.81

     4.2

     2.7

Less developed countries

    0.56

    0.89

    2.81

    4.45

    5.81

     1.5

     1.6

Africa

    0.37

    0.59

    2.41

    2.39

    2.15

     0.8

     1.0

Asia

    0.58

    0.91

    2.63

    4.20

    5.01

     1.5

     1.5

Central and South America, Caribbean

    0.87

    1.13

    3.95

    7.11

   12.71

     2.4

     2.6

Europe

    0.92

    1.48

    5.01

    9.37

   12.36

     4.7

     3.1

Australia/New Zealand and Pacific

    0.46

    0.99

    4.09

    7.88

   17.40

     3.6

     2.9

 

Brain, nervous system: Mortality-Male

 0-14

15-44

45-54

55-64

 65+

All ages

ASR (World)

World

    0.72

    1.28

    4.78

    7.89

   12.11

     2.6

     2.8

More developed countries

    0.97

    1.86

    6.88

   12.43

   17.79

     5.4

     4.1

Less developed countries

    0.69

    1.16

    4.03

    5.97

    8.79

     1.9

     2.2

Africa

    0.39

    0.64

    2.61

    3.44

    2.71

     0.8

     1.1

Asia

    0.73

    1.20

    3.93

    5.57

    8.23

     2.0

     2.2

Central and South America, Caribbean

    1.05

    1.50

    5.60

   10.04

   15.64

     2.9

     3.5

Europe

    1.16

    2.10

    8.08

   14.67

   19.14

     6.1

     4.7

Australia/New Zealand and Pacific

    0.98

    1.71

    7.91

   15.06

   21.70

     5.1

     4.6

 

 

Estimated Worldwide Malignant Brain Tumor Incidence Rates and Numbers of Cases for 2005, estimated from GLOBOCAN, 2002.

 

World

Total

Males

Females

 

Rate

Cases

Rate

Cases

Rate

Cases

 0-14

1.138

20,814

1.271

11,930

0.998

8,884

15-44

1.848

55,916

2.161

33,296

1.524

22,620

45-54

5.571

37,816

6.570

22,375

4.565

15,441

55-64

8.017

35,990

9.374

20,601

6.715

15,389

 65+

10.626

50,162

12.834

26,335

8.929

23,827

All ages

3.110

200,697

3.530

114,536

2.685

86,161

 

More Developed

Total

Males

Females

 

Rate

Cases

Rate

Cases

Rate

Cases

 0-14

2.618

5,384

2.775

2,927

2.452

2,457

15-44

2.761

14,134

3.233

8,366

2.278

5,768

45-54

7.517

12,964

9.142

7,724

5.955

5,240

55-64

12.153

16,310

14.905

9,560

9.633

6,750

 65+

15.332

28,286

19.222

14,260

12.716

14,026

All ages

6.376

77,077

7.297

42,837

5.507

34,240

 

Less Developed

Total

Males

Females

 

Rate

Cases

Rate

Cases

Rate

Cases

 0-14

0.943

15,307

1.073

8,940

0.806

6,367

15-44

1.649

41,447

1.929

24,729

1.358

16,718

45-54

4.848

24,546

5.645

14,455

4.032

10,091

55-64

6.194

19,495

7.029

10,939

5.378

8,556

 65+

7.475

21,495

9.102

11,924

6.114

9,571

All ages

2.332

122,292

2.671

70,988

1.983

51,304

 

*All rates are per 100,000

Incidence of Primary Non-Malignant Brain Tumours

 

Preliminary Incidence Rates and Counts for the World-wide Incidence of Primary Non-Malignant Brain, Nervous System Cancer, 2002. Computed Using CBTRUS data (i.e. US incidence applied to the world population).

 

 

Rate*

Count

 

Overall

Male

Female

Overall

Male

Female

World,

Non-Malignant

2.6

2.0

3.1

157,833

58,851

98,982

 

*Per 100,000 and age-standardized to the World standard.

Computed by CBTRUS.

 

 

 

Estimated Incidence Rates and Counts for the World-wide Incidence of Primary Non-Malignant Brain, Nervous System Cancer, 2002. Computed Using Rates From Registries and Published Literature.

 

PLEASE NOTE:  The rates calculated using data from registries and published literature area little higher than the rates calculated using CBTRUS rates (above).

 

 

Rate*

Count

 

Overall

Male

Female

Overall

Male

Female

World,

Non-Malignant

2.9

2.5

3.3

187,884

81,411

106,473

 

*Per 100,000 and age-standardized to the World standard.

Computed by CBTRUS.

 

 

 

Explanation of Data and Terms

(Taken directly from GLOBOCAN 2002 documentation)

 

Definitions

 

Incidence

Incidence is the number of new cases arising in a given period in a specified population. This information is collected routinely by cancer registries. It can be expressed as an absolute number of cases per year or as a rate per 100,000 persons per year. The latter provides an approximation to the average risk of developing a cancer, which is particularly useful in making comparisons between populations.

 

Mortality

Mortality is the number of deaths occurring in a given period in a specified population. It can be expressed as an absolute number of deaths per year or as a rate per 100,000 persons per year.

 

Prevalence

The prevalence of a particular cancer can be defined as the number of persons in a defined population who have been diagnosed with that type of cancer, and who are still alive at a given point in time. Partial prevalence, which limits the number of patients to those diagnosed during a fixed time in the past, is a particularly useful measure of cancer burden. Prevalence of cancers based on cases diagnosed within one, three and five years are presented in GLOBOCAN 2002, as they are likely to be of relevance to the different stages of cancer therapy, namely, initial treatment (one year), clinical follow-up (three years) and cure (five years). Patients who are still alive five years after diagnosis are usually considered cured since the death rates of such patients are similar to those in the general population.

 

 

Age-Standardized Rate

ASR, world standard

 

Brain, nervous system

International Classification of Disease (ICD, 10th revision) codes C70-C72.

Malignant tumors only.

 

GLOBOCAN 2002 presents estimates for the year 2002. However, although the populations of the different countries are those estimated for the middle of 2002, the disease rates are not those for the year 2002, but from the most recent data available, generally 2-5 years earlier.

 

Less Developed Countries

The countries included in the Less Developed category include countries from the following regions: Eastern Africa, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Western Africa, Caribbean, Central America, South America, Eastern Asia (excluding Japan), South Eastern Asia, South Central Asia, Western Asia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.  Rates were calculated from certain countries in each region, but additional populations were included in the denominator.

 

Eastern Africa

Rates calculated from: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Also includes population from:  France, La Reunion & Seychelles

 

Middle Africa

Rates calculated from: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon

Also includes population from: Sao Tome and Principe

 

Northern Africa

Rates calculated from: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia

Also includes population from: Western Sahara

 

Southern Africa

Rates calculated from: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South African Republic, Swaziland

 

Western Africa

Rates calculated from: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo

Also includes population from: St. Helena

 

Caribbean

Rates calculated from: Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago

Also includes population from: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, French Guadeloupe, French Martinique, Grenada, Monserrat, Netherlands Antilles, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands

 

Central America

Rates calculated from: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama

 

South America

Rates calculated from: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, Falkland Islands, French Guyana

 

Eastern Asia

Rates calculated from: People’s Republic of China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Mongolia

 

South Eastern Asia

Rates calculated from: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam

Also includes population from: Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste

 

South Central Asia

Rates calculated from: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

Also includes population from: Maldives

 

Western Asia

Rates calculated from: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United Arab Emirates,Yemen

Also includes population from: Gaza Strip

 

Melanesia

Rates calculated from: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, France, New Caledonia (Not available in GLOBOCAN 2002)

 

Micronesia

Rates calculated from: Guam
Population also includes: Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau

 

Polynesia

Rates calculated from: Samoa
Polynesian population also includes: American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Pitcairn, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna Islands