List of people with brain tumors
Name Life Comments Diagnosis Survival
Lyle Alzado 1949-1992 National Football League ( NFL ) football player ; made public statements attributing his tumor to anabolic steroids , a claim not supported by medical research CNS lymphoma -
Lance Armstrong 1971- Racing cyclist who was diagnosed with testicular cancer that spread to his abdomen , lungs and brain Metastatic tumor 1996-
Seve Ballesteros 1957-2011 Spanish golfer ; winner of five major championships Oligoastrocytoma 2008-2011
Kevin Berry 1945-2006 Butterfly swimmer , Olympic gold medalist - -
Angelo Bertelli 1921-1999 American football quarterback - -
Bobby Bonds 1946-2003 Right fielder in Major League Baseball from 1968 to 1981 , primarily with the San Francisco Giants ; father of Barry Bonds - -
Ken Brett 1948-2003 Major League Baseball ( MLB ) pitcher ; brother of Hall of Famer George Brett - 6 years
José María Buljubasich 1971- Argentine association football goalkeeper - 2006-
Richard Burns 1971-2005 Race car driver , Rally world champion Astrocytoma 2 years
Matt Cappotelli 1979-2018 Professional wrestler Astrocytoma later Glioblastoma 2006-2018
Richard Chelimo 1972-2001 Track champion from Kenya ; former 10,000-meter world record holder - -
Maurice Colclough 1953-2006 Rugby player , part of England 's Grand Slam -winning team in the 1980 Five Nations Championship - -
Chris Doleman 1961-2020 NFL Hall of Fame defensive end ; played for Minnesota Vikings , Atlanta Falcons , San Francisco 49ers Glioblastoma 2 years
Dan Duva 1951-1996 Boxing promoter behind more than 100 world championship bouts Primary brain tumor
Vugar Gashimov 1986-2014 Chess grandmaster ; 2009 European Team Chess Championship winner - 14 years
Josh Gibson 1911-1947 Negro League baseball player ; home run hitter with the highest career batting average in league history - 4 years
Tim Gullikson 1951-1996 Champion doubles tennis player alongside his twin brother Tom ; coach of Pete Sampras - -
Scott Hamilton 1958- Figure skater and Olympic gold medalist Pituitary gland 2004-
John Hartson 1975- Professional footballer Metastatic tumor 2009-
Craig Ironhead Heyward 1966-2006 American football running back who played in the NFL Chordoma 8 years
Sports
A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of cells within the brain or inside the skull, and can be cancerous (malignant) or non-cancerous (benign). Just over half of all primary brain tumors are malignant; the rest are benign, though they may still be life-threatening. In the United States in 2000, survivors of benign primary brain tumors outnumbered those who had cancerous primary brain tumors by approximately 4:1. Metastatic brain cancer is over six times more common than primary brain cancer, as it occurs in about 10-30% of all people with cancer. This is a list of notable people who have had a primary or metastatic brain tumor (either benign or malignant) at some time in their lives, as confirmed by public information. Tumor type and survival duration are listed where the information is known. Blank spaces in these columns appear where precise information has not been released to the public. Medicine does not designate most long-term survivors as cured. The National Cancer Institute estimated 22,070 new cases of primary brain cancer and 12,920 deaths due to the illness in the United State in 2009. The age-adjusted incidence rate is 6.4 per 100,000 per year, and the death rate is 4.3 per 100,000 per year. The lifetime risk of developing brain cancer for someone born today is 0.60%. Only around a third of those diagnosed with brain cancer survive for five years after diagnosis.