The Cost of a Brain Tumour: The Economic Case for Urgent Action
Report: The financial impact of a brain tumour
Our latest report sets out the stark scale of the financial and personal impact of brain tumours.
In one year, new brain tumour diagnoses create an £18.7 billion economic burden to the UK.
Brain tumours diagnosed in a single year create an £18.7bn lifetime burden for the UK.
The £18.7 billion figure includes:
- £5.17bn in financial costs, such as lost earnings while alive, welfare payments, care costs and direct healthcare spend.
- £13.5bn representing the value of health and life lost, reflecting the government’s own valuation of years of life lived in good health.
Together, this equates to, on average, £1.47m per person diagnosed.
Outcomes for brain tumours have barely improved in two decades, despite advances elsewhere in cancer. This reflects long-term underinvestment, fragmented care, and the absence of national leadership — showing that poor outcomes are not inevitable, but the result of policy choices.
We’re calling for a more joined-up system, with the development of a National Brain Tumour Strategy, to deliver coordinated national action across diagnosis, care, rehabilitation, welfare and research, reducing long-term costs while restoring independence and improving outcomes.
Reports on the cost of a brain tumour
The Cost of a Brain Tumour: The Economic Case for Urgent Action
Technical Analysis: The Burden of Illness of Brain Tumours in the UK
National Brain Tumour Strategy
We’re calling for the government to create a National Brain Tumour Strategy to provide better diagnosis, care, research and treatments to people affected by brain tumours.