Brain Tumours

Incidence

Approx 3500 cases per year in England and Wales.

Age

Rare below 30 years - but relatively evenly distributed thereafter (peak at age 60-69 years).

Patients with brain tumours typically present with one of the following:

• Progressive weakness, numbness, difficulty speaking/slurring, tremor and incoordination) developing over days to weeks
• Fitting/seizures
• Symptoms of raised intracranial pressure ie ( headache, vomiting, visual disturbance)
• Personality (mental state) changes

Prevalence among patients presenting with brain tumours:

• Specific weakness/numbness: > 50%
• Seizures: 25-30%
• Headaches: 25-35%
• Visual change: 23-50%
• Mental changes: 16-20%

The probability of having a brain tumour in the following situations is as follows:

• New onset fits/seizures disorder in adults: 2-6%
• New onset epilepsy: 10%
• Headache of non-migrainous type: <1%

See your doctor if you have:

• Progressive neurological problem developing over days to weeks (e.g. weakness, sensory loss, difficulty speaking/slurring, tremor and incordination )
• New onset seizures characterised by one or more of the following:
  • Affecting one part of body
  • Prolonged post-fit focal weakness (longer than one hour)
  • Prolonged fitting (status epilepticus)
  • Patients with headache, vomiting and visual disturbance
• Cranial nerve palsy (e.g. double vision, visual failure including optician defined visual field loss, one sided progressive hearing loss)
• Non-migrainous headaches of recent onset, present for at least one month, when accompanied by features suggestive of raised intracranial pressure (e.g. woken by headache; vomiting; drowsiness)