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Dear Friend of the international brain tumour community
The following media release has been distributed to hundreds of media outlets
around the world and similar country-specific releases have also been
distributed which contain detailed contact information for any journalists
wishing to write a story.
MEDIA RELEASE (Embargoed until Midnight Saturday 20 October 2007)
200,000 PEOPLE WORLDWIDE AFFECTED EACH YEAR BY HIGHLY MALIGNANT BRAIN
TUMOURS
Research commissioned by the International Brain Tumour Alliance (IBTA) has
identified that annually at least 200,000 people worldwide develop a primary
malignant brain tumour, which is one of the most lethal of all cancers. (IBTA
website: www.theibta.org )
It further identified that the incidence of primary malignant brain tumours is
3.7 per 100,000 each year for males and 2.6 per 100,000 per annum for females.
No one has yet established why men are more susceptible to developing these
brain tumours.
(Further statistical information is available at this page on the IBTA website:
http://www.theibta.org/uploads/file/Statistics.htm
)
The research was released at the commencement of the inaugural International
Brain Tumour Awareness Week which is being held during 21-27 October.
The IBTA is an advocacy group that brings together brain tumour patients, their
caregivers, scientists, clinicians, and commercial companies, with an interest
in brain tumours.
IBTA Chair Denis Strangman from Canberra, Australia, who lost his wife several
years ago to a glioblastoma brain tumour, said that the statistical estimates
while invaluable, were very conservative and probably an underestimation
because of inadequate cancer statistical collection resources in some
countries.
There are also many thousands of people who develop so-called benign brain
tumours that can also be lethal, and there are also hundreds of thousands of
people who develop brain metastases as a result of a cancer elsewhere in the
body. The overall impact and cost is almost incalculable but it is a very
devastating disease he said.
Meanwhile, one of the world's leading specialists in brain tumour research has
called for greater attention to be given to brain tumours.
Professor M.J. van den Bent of the Netherlands, who was a member of the
international team that identified the advantages of combining radiation
therapy with the drug temozolomide for glioblastoma brain tumours, says that
better treatments for brain tumours are urgently needed and also an increased
awareness of the effects of this cancer on the person and their relatives.
"Most primary brain tumours have a very poor prognosis, and many of the
affected patients are young. Apart from the shortened life, these patients
suffer from a variety of signs and symptoms that have an enormous impact on
their quality of life.
"In particular, the presence of cognitive deficits, memory disturbances,
personality changes and other neurological deficits, often interfere with daily
functioning and prevent these patients from leading a normal active life; and
because of these cognitive deficits and personality changes the relatives of
these patients suffer as well.
"Better treatments are urgently needed and also an increased awareness of
what these tumours cause for patients that look healthy but who nonetheless
often suffer from a dramatic loss of function, and what consequences this has
for their relatives.
"I sincerely hope that the International Brain Tumour Awareness Week
increases the attention given to this horrible disease. Despite recent
advances, a lot has still to be done. Only joint efforts will help us to
improve the outcome for this gruesome disease," Professor van den Bent
said.
NOTES
Background to the Awareness Week: The inaugural International Brain
Tumour Awareness Week is being held during 21-27 October 2007 and has been
supported by almost 100 patient, professional, scientific and commercial
organisations from 23 different countries. The main activity has been the Walk
Around the World For Brain Tumours whereby people undertake sponsored walks
for local brain tumour research and support purposes and donate the mileage to
the IBTA to achieve a target of 40,000 kms representing once around the Earth
at the Equator. 29 such walks have already taken place and the target is likely
to be greatly exceeded, with a further 41 walks planned during the Awareness
Week. A media release about the World Walk will be issued during the Week.
Scientific meetings, picnics and outings for patients and caregivers, and
patient information meetings will also take place during the Week. The project
has been supported by undirected grants from Schering-Plough, Lilly Oncology,
Ark Therapeutics, NovoCure, Antisense Pharma, and Neuroendoscopy.
Brain tumour patient support organisations: There are hyper-links to 49
national and local brain tumour organisations on the right-hand column of the
homepage for the IBTA at www.theibta.org
These organisations can provide information and comment about local situations.
BACKGROUND ABOUT BRAIN TUMOURS:
There are over 120 different
types of brain tumour.
There are two main categories of
brain tumours: primary and metastatic. Primary brain tumours can either
be malignant (of varying degrees of aggressiveness) or non-malignant (so-called
benign).
Tumours are diagnosed and then
classified according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) grading system
which ranges from Grade I brain tumours (slow growing, least malignant) to
Grade IV brain tumours (rapidly growing and highly malignant)
The causes of brain tumours are, as
yet, largely unknown.
Brain tumours know no boundaries.
They occur in people of all ages, from very tiny babies to the elderly, male
and female, and across all cultural groups around the world.
The cancers that most commonly
metastasize to the brain are lung and breast.
What is needed: Research into
the causes of, and treatments for, brain tumours is seriously under-funded.
Better support is needed for sufferers. Equitable access to promising new
therapies is another area which needs much work. Understanding the signs
and symptoms of brain tumours, and improved availability to a wider range of
vital support services including psycho-social support, rehabilitation and
palliative care, and access to neuro-oncology care coordinators, are additional
goals which most people in the brain tumour community campaign for.
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