Public Release:  Epileptic seizures linked to significant risk of subsequent brain tumor


BMJ-British Medical Journal

Epileptic seizures can precede the development of a subsequent brain tumour by many years, suggests research published online in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.



These data were then linked to subsequent diagnoses of or deaths from brain tumours.

The results showed that compared with people admitted for other common and relatively minor disorders, those admitted with an epileptic seizure for the first time were just under 20 times as likely to develop a brain tumour across both sets of admissions data.


The risk of developing a cancerous brain tumour was twice as high as it was for a non-cancerous growth.

Those with epilepsy were more than 25 times as likely to develop a cancerous brain tumour and more than 10 times as likely to develop a non-cancerous growth as those admitted for other causes.

The risk was greatest in younger people aged between 15 and 44 who were between 24 times (ORLS data) and 38 times (HES data) more likely to develop a brain tumour than people of the same age without epilepsy.


The authors point out that brain tumours are rare, even among those with epilepsy. The overall risk of a brain tumour in 15 to 44 year olds was about 1 to 2%.

"Our study suggests that tumour as an underlying cause for epilepsy may not become apparent for several years after onset, and indicates a need for ongoing vigilance," they write.

The seizure activity may indicate either a pre-clinical phase of tumour development or could be caused directly by a tumour which doesn't show up on MRI scans, they say.

