Metastatic Brain Tumours

Ms Kate Lewis (Brain Tumour Research)

Metastatic Brain Tumours are secondary cancer in the brain as a result of a primary cancer and 10 times more common than primary brain tumours.

Many people survive a primary cancer but today there is no cure for Metastatic Brain Tumours, even radical surgery is not always possible or successful. Therefore it is more critical than ever to find a cure. Once cancer is in the brain it's very had to treat, people usually die within about six months of diagnosis.

Kate Lewis is investigating how the cancer is entering the brain and seeks a solution that will stop the blood-brain barrier opening and allowing the tumour to travel into the brain thereby providing a potential cure.

Brain tumours affect adults of all ages. There are almost 1,400 new cases of malignant brain tumours in Australia and many more benign brain tumours that can be just as deadly if the tumour is in a vital area of the brain. More than 1,200 people die each year from malignant and benign brain tumours. Brain cancer, kills one Australian every six hours.

Brain cancer is also one of the few cancers which occur in children, with 115 new cases a year among children.

Kate’s research was made possible by the Jane Page Brain Tumour Research Fund established by Dr Jeremy Hallpike, Coopers Brewery Foundation and Bill and Jo Cooper through the Neurosurgical Research Foundation.