Key Statistics for Brain Tumors

Learn about key statistics for brain and spinal cord tumors, including how common they are and who is most affected.

How common are brain and spinal cord tumors?

The American Cancer Society’s estimates for malignant brain tumors and spinal cord tumors (brain and spinal cord cancers) in the United States for 2025 include both adults and children.

• About 24,820 malignant tumors (cancers) of the brain or spinal cord (14,040 in males and 10,780 in females) will be diagnosed. These numbers would be much higher if benign (non-cancer) tumors were also included.
• About 18,330 people (10,170 males and 8,160 females) will die from brain and spinal cord cancers.

Overall, brain and spinal cord cancers make up about 1% of new cancers in the US each year.

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 for women than for 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 either men or women. For example, meningiomas, which are usually benign, are more common in women.

About 9 out of 10 brain and spinal cord tumors are diagnosed in adults. The average age at the time of diagnosis is 61 years.

Survival rates for brain tumors

Survival rates for brain tumors 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 Tumors.

Learn more

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