· In the UK alone 6,500 children and adults are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year and this number has grown increasingly over the last thirty years.
· 450 children in the UK are diagnosed with a brain tumour every year.
· 40% of all cancer deaths in children are from a brain tumour.
· On average it takes longer to diagnose a child with a brain tumour in the UK than in North America and a number of European countries. The principal cause of delay in childhood brain tumour diagnosis is the failure by front-line health professionals to include brain tumours in the differential diagnosis.
· There is a 5% to 10% annual increase in paediatric brain tumours.
· Brain tumour research is under funded and the public, in general, is unaware of the magnitude of the problem.
· Lack of funding and research into the treatment of brain tumours means survival rates are no better than they were forty years ago.
· The NHS expenditure on brain tumour patients of £16,000 is well below that spent on other cancers such as lung and breast.
· NICE (The National Institute of Clinical Excellence) has recognised that brain tumour patients do not receive equitable and best care in the UK and is currently producing guidance.
· Currently, brain tumours cannot be prevented because their cause is still unknown.
· The cure rate for most brain tumours is significantly lower than that for most other types of cancer.
· Because of their location at the control centre for thought, emotion and physical function, brain tumours are difficult to treat.
· There are over 120 different types of brain tumours, making effective treatment very complicated.
· Brain tumours are currently treated by surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.