Brain Cancer Prognosis: What to Expect in Life Expectancy

The survival rate for patients after a brain cancer diagnosis depends on the type of tumor, where it is located, the age or health of the patient, and whether or not the cancer can be removed or reduced.

Long-term survival is often defined as more than five years following the point of a brain cancer diagnosis, says eMedicineHealth. The life expectancy varies among patients. Radiation treatment that follows surgery might increase a patient’s life expectancy while people who continue to have seizures after treatment may decline within six months.

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In aggressive brain cancer, the survival rate may range from 10 percent to 32 percent even after surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy treatment, eMedicineHealth reports.

The five-year survival rate is the percentage of people who live at least five years after being diagnosed with brain cancer. The number of patients who reach the five-year survival rate decreases with age, says the American Cancer Society.

There are many different types of brain cancer and the predicated survival rates are different for each. For example, the five-year survival rate for an astrocytoma brain tumor is 65 percent for people ages 20 to 44, but 21 percent for those ages 55 to 64. The rate jumps to 92 percent for 20- to 44-year-olds who have a meningioma brain tumor. It is 67 percent for people ages 55 to 64.

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The American Cancer Society points out those figures are based on patients who were treated between 1995 and 2010. Improved treatments since then may result in better outcomes.

In England and Wales, the five-year overall survival rate is 20 percent for patients with brain cancer, according to Cancer Research UK. About 40 percent of patients survive one year or more after the diagnosis while 15 percent survive for 10 years or more.

Younger patients fare better after treatment. The five-year survival rate is 60 percent for people ages 15 to 39. Women also appear to respond better to treatment than men, but the reason is unknown.

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