Each year, about 4300 people in the UK are diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Primary brain tumours

Primary brain tumours develop from brain cells.

Benign tumours − Many primary brain tumours are benign, which means that they remain in the part of the brain in which they started and do not spread into and destroy other areas of the brain. They do not spread to other parts of the body. If a benign tumour can be removed successfully it should not cause any further problems.

However, sometimes it is difficult to remove the tumour because of its position within the brain, or because the surrounding brain tissue could be damaged by surgery. Some benign tumours will re-grow slowly and if this happens, treatment with radiotherapy or further surgery may be given.

Malignant primary brain tumours are most likely to cause problems by spreading into the normal brain tissue which surrounds them and causing pressure and damage to the surrounding areas of the brain. These tumours rarely spread outside the brain to other parts of the body.

Secondary brain tumours

Secondary brain tumours occur when cancer cells from other parts of the body, such as the lung or breast, spread to the brain.

Your doctor will be able to tell you if yours is a primary or secondary tumour. We have information about secondary brain tumours.