Can You Survive a Brain Tumor?

A Keck Medicine of USC neurosurgeon discusses survival rates of various types of brain tumors.

“Being diagnosed with a brain tumor is an extremely life-changing experience,” says Aaron Cohen-Gadol, MD, a neurosurgeon with the USC Brain Tumor Center, part of Keck Medicine of USC. However, despite common misconceptions, many people do survive brain tumors and carry on with very productive lives. Some brain tumors, if they are small and non-cancerous (benign), may not even require treatment.  

“The most important thing for a surgeon to do is to make sure that their patient is empowered by information so that they can make good decisions and understand how their quality of life is going to be affected by their treatment,” Dr. Cohen-Gadol says.  

Many factors can influence survival rates for brain tumors, he says, including tumor size, location and stage, as well as factors like your age, overall health, previous treatments and support system. The level of trust between the patient and neurosurgeon is also crucial, since surgery is often the first line of treatment for most brain tumors.  

“The goal of surgery is to remove as much of the tumor as possible, while retaining cognitive function,” Dr. Cohen-Gadol says. “And operability is very subjective and differs from surgeon to surgeon. A neurosurgeon must have high expertise and understand many different levels of surgical approaches and techniques. One tumor that is inoperable for one surgeon can be relatively operable for another surgeon.” So, it’s important to always seek a second opinion if you are told that your brain tumor is inoperable.  

What is the life expectancy of someone with a brain tumor?

If you have received a brain tumor diagnosis, you’re likely wondering what your life expectancy is. The number one thing to remember is that brain tumor survival rates are statistical averages and are not necessarily an exact predictor of how many years you will live. Here are the factors that can affect your brain tumor survival rate:

• Type of tumor
• Grade of tumor
• Location of tumor
• Size of tumor
• Age of patient
• Overall physical health of patient

For example, for a 20-year-old who has a less aggressive type of tumor called an ependymoma, the five-year survival rate is 92% on average, while that same tumor in someone 55-67 years old would have an 87% survival rate. For more aggressive tumors like glioblastomas, the survival rate for a 20-year-old is 22% and 6% for someone 55-67 years old.

What are the most important factors affecting survival after a brain tumor diagnosis?

“After surgery, the most important factor of survival is how much of the tumor was removed and if the tumor was malignant or benign,” Dr. Cohen-Gadol says.

When it comes to benign tumors, if the whole tumor is removed during surgery, a patient likely will have a positive outcome. However, even if a malignant tumor is completely removed, it might come back, affecting survival rates.

What can I do to improve my chances of surviving a brain tumor?

There are several things you can do to improve your chances of surviving a brain tumor.

• Follow-up care: Attend all regularly scheduled appointments with your doctors so that they can monitor the progress of treatment and detect any possible recurrence of the tumor.
• Supportive care: In addition to treating the tumor itself with your main neurosurgery team, supportive care to manage symptoms from a physical therapist and support nutrition can also improve your overall quality of life.
• Emotional and physical self-care: Taking care of both your body and mind through healthy lifestyle practices is important to overall recovery. Taking steps to ensure your wellness through practices like eating a healthy diet, getting good sleep, exercising and finding mental health counseling or support groups can help you take good care of yourself.
• Clinical trials: Keck Medicine offers clinical trials to test new treatments and approaches for brain tumor treatment. Your doctor can help you understand if you are eligible for any current clinical trials and what the potential benefits and risks may be.

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