They are usually slow-growing and often successfully treated with surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. Surgery may be recommended for a glioma involving only one optic nerve. Children with these tumors often have vision and hormonal problems. Malignant forms called anaplastic meningiomas and hemangioperictyomas are less common but are difficult to remove surgically. In 1998, primary brain tumors are expected to develop in 17,400 Americans.
Men are at higher risk for brain tumors than are women.
Brain tumors are the second most common cause of death from cancer in people under 34 and the fourth most common cause of cancer death in men between the ages of 35 and 54. All rights reserved.