Brain Tumour Awareness Week 2025: Are You At The Risk Of Brain Tumour?

Brain Tumour Awareness Week is an advocacy window, a focused seven-day push to raise public understanding, improve early detection, spotlight gaps in care and accelerate research funding for a set of diseases that are often devastating and under-funded. Brain tumours are not just “one cancer.” They include many types (from meningiomas to glioblastomas) that differ in behaviour, treatment and prognosis. Because some are rare, policy attention and research dollars have lagged behind other cancers, yet the human cost is high, especially for younger adults and children. Awareness weeks help patients tell their stories, push for more clinical trials, and encourage governments and funders to prioritise research and services. They also translate complex science into simple, actionable messages: know the symptoms, reduce avoidable risks where possible, and get prompt medical evaluation when something changes.

Are you at risk of brain tumour?

1. Inherited genetic syndromes

Studies suggest that several rare familial syndromes strongly increase lifetime risk of certain brain tumours. These are uncommon but high-impact. A family history of multiple cancers, tumours at young ages, or characteristic non-cancer features should prompt genetic counselling.

2. Age and sex

Some brain tumours are more common in children (many embryonal tumours), others in middle-aged or older adults; certain subtypes (e.g., meningioma) are more common in women. Population registries show these pattern differences. Age and sex are non-modifiable risk markers but they help doctors interpret symptoms appropriately.

3. Previous cancer treatments

People treated for other cancers with high-dose radiation to the head, or particular alkylating chemotherapies, can have higher CNS tumour risk later. If you had cancer treatment in the past, keep your oncology team informed of any new neurological symptoms.

4. Certain occupational or environmental exposures

Studies have investigated solvents, pesticides, vinyl chloride and other workplace exposures; results are mixed and many associations remain inconclusive or weak. Large reviews list them as possible but not proven for most adults. If you work with heavy chemical exposures, tell your doctor, occupational history matters for assessment and possibly for workplace controls.

5. Radiation from routine diagnostic procedures

Repeated diagnostic scans especially in childhood raise concern because risk appears dose-related; protocols now favour minimising dose where possible. Track your imaging history; if you had many CTs when young, discuss follow-up strategies with your GP.

6. Air pollution

Large studies have linked long-term exposure to fine particulates and traffic-related pollution with a small increase in risk for certain tumours such as meningioma but evidence is evolving. Living long-term in high-pollution areas can increase several health risks; individual risk is low but population impact is meaningful.

7. Immune suppression

People with weakened immune systems (transplant recipients, untreated HIV) have higher rates of some CNS tumours, often due to viral drivers or lack of immune surveillance. If you're immunosuppressed, routine care includes cancer surveillance tailored to your condition.

8. Lifestyle and metabolic factors

Large modern reviews flag metabolic risk like obesity, diabetes and alcohol and smoking as cancer risk factors broadly, and they may contribute in part to CNS tumour burden although more research is needed for specificity. Still, reducing these risks benefits overall health. If you have obesity, uncontrolled diabetes or heavy alcohol use, you already have reasons to seek preventive care and those changes also support lower cancer risk overall.

Some things to keep in mind:

• When to see a doctor: new persistent headaches (different from usual), change in seizure pattern, unexplained nausea/vomiting, new weakness or numbness on one side, speech or vision changes, balance problems especially if progressive.
• If you have a relevant history (childhood head radiation, strong family cancer history, known genetic syndrome, many childhood CTs), tell your GP or neurologist, they may recommend tailored surveillance or genetic testing.
• Prevention: while many brain tumours aren't preventable, sensible measures matter, minimise unnecessary radiological exposure (ask about low-dose protocols), control metabolic risk factors, reduce smoking/drinking, and support air-quality policies. The WHO and cancer registries emphasise that up to half of all cancers could be prevented by addressing modifiable risks.

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for a qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.

References

2025 Pre-diagnostic risk factors for brain cancer incidence and... — NCBI, 2025.

International Brain Tumour Awareness Week (campaign information and dates) — International Brain Tumour Alliance (IBTA), 2025.

Cancer — Fact sheet (risk factors, prevention) — World Health Organization (WHO), 2025.

Computed tomography scan radiation and brain cancer — NCBI, 2023.

Genetic syndromes predisposing to pediatric brain tumors (review) — NCBI, 2021.