Brain cancer death rates in Wales did not improve between 2002 and 2025, a new analysis of Public Health Wales data by the charity Brain Tumour Research has revealed. The charity is urging Welsh Government to use its National Cancer Plan for Wales, currently out for consultation, to make brain tumours a specific priority by increasing investment in research and widening access to clinical trials so Welsh patients are not left behind.
Brain Tumour Research is calling on the Welsh Government to make brain tumours a specific priority in the National Cancer Plan for Wales by committing to three practical actions: expanding access to brain tumour clinical trials beyond Cardiff, ending inequalities in access to innovative genomic testing, and establishing a dedicated brain tumour research funding call by the end of 2026.
Survival rates for brain cancer patients remain devastatingly low, with only 13% of patients in Wales surviving five years or more after diagnosis, compared to 61.5% across all cancers.
Although there was a 20% reduction in cancer deaths in Wales between 2002 and 2025, from 328 to 265 per 100,000 of the population, brain cancer mortality did not improve over the same period (6.24 to 6.47 per 100,000). Brain tumours are the leading cause of cancer death in people under 40 in Wales and, in 2025, across all ages, brain cancer accounted for 2.6% of all cancer deaths, with 233 deaths out of 9,053.
Despite the urgent need for treatments that can increase survival, fewer than 1% cancer clinical trial participants in Wales took part in trials dedicated to brain tumours between 2022 and 2025, with just 74 patients taking part in brain tumour trials. According to the Welsh Government’s CReST report, published in 2026, recruitment to Welsh-led adult brain cancer clinical trials is the second lowest of the cancer types reported, with fewer than 20 patients enrolled each year between 2022 and 2025. Where trials have been available, they have been hosted only in Cardiff, creating unequal access to emerging treatments for patients in other parts of Wales.
Earlier this year, Brain Tumour Research launched a manifesto, titled Time to Do Things Differently: A Plan for Change in Wales, setting out three practical priorities for Welsh Government action:
- Increasing access to clinical trials in Wales
- Ending inequalities in access to innovative genomic testing technology
- Increasing investment in research into brain tumours
Since 2015, Health and Care Research Wales has funded just one research project into brain tumours, with none funded since 2022. Brain Tumour Research is urging the Welsh Government to establish a specific funding call for research into brain tumours by the end of 2026 and to be held accountable for progress.
Matthew Sowemimo, head of campaigning at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Brain tumours are the leading cause of cancer death in children and adults under the age of 40 in Wales, yet patients here are being locked out of innovation. Welsh Government has an opportunity through its National Cancer Plan to change that by expanding clinical trial access and committing to targeted research funding, but we are concerned the proposals in the consultation document for the plan do not give sufficient focus to research. The time to do things differently is now.”
