Brain tumours
Brain tumours are an abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells in your brain. They are usually treated with surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy, or a combination of these.
Brain tumours are classed as either primary or secondary.
Primary brain tumours develop from normal cells in your brain.
Secondary brain tumours develop when cancer cells from other parts of your body, such as your lung or breast, spread to your brain.
This factsheet will focus on primary brain tumours.
Primary brain tumours can be malignant (cancerous) or benign (not cancerous). Each year in the UK, about 5,000 people are diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour and about 4,300 with a benign brain tumour. Brain tumours can occur at any age but are more common in older people. About 300 children are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year. Cancerous brain tumours are the second most common type of childhood cancer after leukaemia.