Genetic Risk Factors Found for Most Common Brain Tumour
5 July 2009 - For the first time, scientists have identified genetic variants commonly found in the population that can increase an individual’s risk of developing glioma, the most prevalent brain tumour. Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, working with researchers in the US and elsewhere in Europe, studied the DNA sequences of thousands of people and found five genetic factors that were more common among people who had glioma.
Importantly, Professor Richard Houlston and his team found that the more of these variants a person has, the higher their risk of developing glioma. People who have eight or more variants are three times more likely to develop this deadly disease than the general population, according to research published in Nature Genetics. The genetic variants identified also shed new light on how glioma develops, helping scientists home in on new biological targets for treatments.
