Brain cancer awareness

We hear lots about the epidemics of breast cancer in women (Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, etc.) and prostate cancer in men (Michael Milken's Prostate Cancer Foundation, etc.), as well we should. We've had several friends with one or the other diagnosis, some of whom have not survived.

Several types of cancer fly under the radar, including breast cancer in men and brain cancers in general. The following is from a recent review in The New England Journal of Medicine [Wen PY, Kesari S. Malignant gliomas in adults. N Engl J Med 2008;359:492-507].

Malignant gliomas account for approximately 70% of the 22,500 new cases of malignant primary brain tumors that are diagnosed in adults in the U.S. each year. The annual incidence of malignant gliomas is approximately 5 cases per 100,000 people. Each year, more than 14,000 new cases are diagnosed in the U.S. The incidence of these tumors has increased slightly over the past two decades, especially in the elderly, primarily as a result of improved diagnostic imaging. Malignant gliomas are 40% more common in men than in women and twice as common in whites as in blacks. No underlying cause has been identified for the majority of malignant gliomas.

Malignant primary brain tumors
Malignant gliomas
Glioblastomas

Glioblastomas account for approximately 60 to 70% of malignant gliomas. The median age of patients at the time of diagnosis is 64 years in the case of glioblastomas. Although relatively uncommon, malignant gliomas are associated with disproportionately high morbidity and mortality. Despite optimal treatment, the median survival is only 12 to 15 months for patients with glioblastomas.

An abbreviated list of 25 famous brain tumor patients who died as a result of their disease (Wikipedia)
Sam Bottoms, actor (The Last Picture Show)
Susan Hayward, Academy Award-winning actress
Irene Ryan, Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies
Jack Brickhouse, sports broadcaster
Gene Siskel, film critic and TV partner of Roger Ebert
Johnnie Cochran, defense attorney for O.J. Simpson
George Gershwin, jazz and classical music composer
Bill Haley, leader of one of the first rock-and-roll bands, The Comets
George Harrison, Beatle
Bob Marley, reggae king
Ethel Merman, Broadway singer and actress
Lou Rawls, soul/jazz/blues singer
Lee Atwater, chairman of the RNC
William J. Casey, director of the CIA
Edward (Ted) Kennedy, U.S. senator
Robert Novak, political pundit
Thor Heyerdahl, marine biologist on Kon-Tiki expedition
Eero Saarinen, architect whose work included the Gateway Arch in StL
Raymond Carver, writer and poet
Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein
Dick Howser, MLB shortstop and manager
Tug McGraw, MLB pitcher and father of CW singer Tim McGraw
Bobby Mercer, MLB player and broadcaster
Dan Quisenberry, MLB pitcher
Wilma Rudolph, Olympic gold medalist in track