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Review
. 2021 Nov 24;21(12):68.
doi: 10.1007/s11910-021-01152-9.

Epidemiology of Brain and Other CNS Tumors

Quinn T Ostrom  1 , Stephen S Francis  2 , Jill S Barnholtz-Sloan  3
Affiliations
Review

Epidemiology of Brain and Other CNS Tumors

Quinn T Ostrom et al. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: Brain and other central nervous system (CNS) tumors, while rare, cause significant morbidity and mortality across all ages. This article summarizes the current state of the knowledge on the epidemiology of brain and other CNS tumors.

Recent findings: For childhood and adolescent brain and other CNS tumors, high birth weight, non-chromosomal structural birth defects and higher socioeconomic position were shown to be risk factors. For adults, increased leukocyte telomere length, proportion of European ancestry, higher socioeconomic position, and HLA haplotypes increase risk of malignant brain tumors, while immune factors decrease risk. Although no risk factor accounting for a large proportion of brain and other CNS tumors has been discovered, the use of high throughput "omics" approaches and improved detection/measurement of environmental exposures will help us refine our current understanding of these factors and discover novel risk factors for this disease.

Keywords: Brain and other CNS tumors; Epidemiology; Incidence; Risk factor; Survival.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Incidence and survival for primary brain and other CNS tumors by age group, behavior and histology (CBTRUS incidence: data provided by CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program, 2013–2017; NPCR Survival Analytic file (2001–2016)), distribution of primary brain and other CNS tumors by behavior for a children (0–19 years), and b adults (20 years and older); CBTRUS: data provided by CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries and NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program, 2013–2017; Kaplan–Meier survival curves for the five most common histologies within c children (0–19 years), and d adults (20 years and older); National Program of Cancer Registries SEER*Stat Database: NPCR Survival Analytic file (2001–2016).*Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding. “All Other Malignant” includes histologies with ICD − O − 3 behavior code of /3 from choroid plexus tumors, neuronal and mixed neuronal − glial tumors, tumors of the pineal region, embryonal tumors, nerve sheath tumors, mesenchymal tumors, primary melanocytic lesions, other neoplasms related to the meninges, lymphoma, other hematopoietic neoplasms, germ cell tumors, cysts and heterotopias, tumors of the pituitary, craniopharyngioma, hemangioma, neoplasm unspecified, and all other. “All Other Non-Malignant” includes histologies with ICD − O − 3 behavior code of /0 or /1 from neuronal and mixed neuronal − glial tumors, tumors of the pineal region, embryonal tumors, other tumors of cranial and spinal nerves, mesenchymal tumors, primary melanocytic lesions, other neoplasms related to the meninges, other hematopoietic neoplasms, germ cell tumors, cysts and heterotopias, craniopharyngioma, hemangioma, neoplasm unspecified, and all other
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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