What causes malignant brain tumours

Although the cause of most primary brain tumours is unknown, research into this is going on all the time. Brain tumours, like other cancers, are not infectious and cannot be passed on to other people. They are slightly more common in men than in women.

A small number of brain tumours occur in people who have known genetic conditions, such as neurofibomatosis, tuberous sclerosis, Li Fraumeni syndrome or von Hippel Lindau syndrome.

People who have been exposed to radiation to their head, such as children who had radiotherapy for leukaemia are at slightly higher risk of developing a brain tumour than other people.

Other factors have been suggested as possible causes of brain tumours but have not been proven. These include mobile phones, power lines and certain types of virus.

The cause of a secondary brain tumour is always a primary cancer somewhere in the body.