Meningioma: Statistics

Approved by the Cancer.Net Editorial Board, 03/2023

ON THIS PAGE: You will find information about the estimated number of people who will be diagnosed with meningioma each year. You will also read general information on surviving the disease. Remember, survival rates depend on several factors, and no 2 people with a tumor are the same. Use the menu to see other pages.

Every person is different, with different factors influencing their risk of being diagnosed with this tumor and the chance of recovery after a diagnosis. It is important to talk with your doctor about any questions you have around the general statistics provided below and what they may mean for you individually. The original source for these statistics is provided at the bottom of this page.

How many people are diagnosed with meningioma?

A primary brain tumor is a tumor that begins in the brain. In the United States, meningioma accounts for 40% of primary brain tumors. In 2023, an estimated 42,260 people will be diagnosed with meningioma. Incidence rates of meningioma increase with age, with most cases diagnosed in adults age 65 and older. The disease is rarely found in children.

Women are diagnosed with meningioma more often than men. Black men and women are at a much higher risk for the disease than White men and women.

Most meningiomas are noncancerous. Malignant (cancerous) meningiomas are less common.

What is the survival rate for meningioma?

There are different types of statistics that can help doctors evaluate a person’s chance of recovery from meningioma. These are called survival statistics. A specific type of survival statistic is called the relative survival rate. It is often used to predict how having a tumor may affect life expectancy. Relative survival rate looks at how likely people with meningioma are to survive for a certain amount of time after their initial diagnosis or start of treatment compared to the expected survival of similar people without this tumor.

Example: Here is an example to help explain what a relative survival rate means. Please note this is only an example and not specific to this type of cancer. Let’s assume that the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific type of cancer is 90%. “Percent” means how many out of 100. Imagine there are 1,000 people without cancer, and based on their age and other characteristics, you expect 900 of the 1,000 to be alive in 5 years. Also imagine there are another 1,000 people similar in age and other characteristics as the first 1,000, but they all have the specific type of cancer that has a 5-year survival rate of 90%. This means it is expected that 810 of the people with the specific cancer (90% of 900) will be alive in 5 years.

It is important to remember that statistics on the survival rates for people with meningioma are only an estimate. They cannot tell an individual person if the tumor will or will not shorten their life. Instead, these statistics describe trends in groups of people previously diagnosed with the same disease, including specific stages of the disease.

The 5-year relative survival rate for malignant meningioma is 67%. The 10-year relative survival rate for malignant meningioma is 60%.

The survival rates for meningioma vary based on several factors. These include whether the tumor is cancerous, the stage and grade of the tumor, a person’s age and general health, and how well the treatment plan works.

The 5-year relative survival rate for malignant meningioma is 79% for children ages 0 to 14 and more than 84% in people ages 15 to 39. For adults 40 and over, the 5-year relative survival rate is around 65%.

For noncancerous meningioma, the 5-year relative survival rate is almost 97% for children ages 14 and under, 97% in people ages 15 to 39, and over 87% in adults 40 and older.

Experts measure relative survival rate statistics for meningioma every 5 years. This means the estimate may not reflect the results of advancements in how meningioma is diagnosed or treated from the last 5 years. Talk with your doctor if you have any questions about this information. Learn more about understanding statistics.

Statistics adapted from the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States Statistical Report: Primary Brain and Other Central Nervous System Tumors Diagnosed in the United States in 2015–2019 (published October 2022). (Source accessed February 2023.)

The next section in this guide is Medical Illustrations. It offers a drawing of the body parts often affected by meningioma. Use the menu to choose a different section to read in this guide.