Key Statistics for Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors

How common are brain and spinal cord tumors?

The American Cancer Society’s estimates for brain and spinal cord tumors in the United States for 2023 include both adults and children.

• About 25,400 malignant tumors of the brain or spinal cord (14,420 in males and 10,980 in females) will be diagnosed. These numbers would be much higher if benign (non-cancer) tumors were also included.
• About 18,760 people (10,690 males and 8,070 females) will die from brain and spinal cord tumors.

Risk of developing a brain or spinal cord tumor

Overall, the chance that a person will develop a malignant tumor of the brain or spinal cord in their lifetime is less than 1%. The risk of developing any type of brain or spinal cord tumor is slightly higher among women than among men, although the risk of developing a malignant tumor is slightly higher for men than for women. This is largely because certain types of tumors are more common in one sex or the other (for example, meningiomas are more common in women).

Survival rates for brain and spinal cord tumors

Survival rates for brain and spinal cord tumors vary widely, depending on the type of tumor (and other factors). Rates for some of the more common types of brain and spinal cord tumors are discussed in Survival Rates for Selected Adult Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors.

Visit the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Statistics Center for more key statistics.