With great pride I welcome you to the website of the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS). CBTRUS was established in 1992 to provide population-based descriptive statistical data on all primary brain and other central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Our database contains the largest collection of incidence data in the United States for all primary brain and other CNS tumors. After almost three decades of effort, we at CBTRUS have learned a lot. With our team at Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University led by Dr. Jill Barnholtz-Sloan, we are poised to meet the changes and challenges ahead.

The CBTRUS website hosts the CBTRUS Statistical Report published by Oxford University Press as a Supplement to the official journal, Neuro-Oncology, of the Society for Neuro-Oncology and is accessed online through a "Free to View" link. A printed publication is part of membership in SNO and is also available upon request. The CBTRUS Reports are easily referenced through a listing in PubMed. And referenced it is! The CBTRUS Report was at the top of the list of the most cited of the Neuro-Oncology publications and has contributed to the journal's impact factor.

We continue to see the effects of Public Law 107-206 mandating the collection of non-malignant, the so-called benign brain tumors, in cancer registration practices. The incidence of non-malignant brain tumors continues to surpass that of malignant brain tumors.

Our peer reviewed publications continue to contribute to the descriptive epidemiology of primary brain tumors. Our experience with reporting brain and CNS tumors continues to provide a template for other countries to establish their own national brain tumor registries.

Changes are challenging. However, CBTRUS is an established organization with many friends in both the cancer registry and brain tumor communities. Collaborations built on CBTRUS' history of cooperation and hard work have overcome many of these challenges. I am very excited to report that biomarkers embedded in the 2016 WHO Classification update will be included in cancer collection practices starting in collection year 2018. 

We thank our current funders and look to new ones to partner with us as we face new challenges together. 

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Advisors, I would like to thank tumor registrars, central cancer registries, the Centers for Disease and Control National Program of Cancer Registries and the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program for providing data for our Statistical Reports, our CBTRUS research team for their analyses, our sponsors for providing financial support and to all those who support our mission.

We will continue to face challenges with excitement, hope and energy.