HEALTH BRIEFING:Two leukaemia genes may also be implicated in a type of brain cancer, a study has found.
Scientists say it is too soon to confirm a link, but the possibility is being explored. Researchers compared the DNA of 1,633 patients with meningioma brain cancer and 2,464 healthy individuals. The study highlighted a genetic region that appears to increase the risk of developing meningioma. The research is published this week in the journal Nature Genetics.
Meningioma tumours grow slowly in the brain and spinal cord tissues. They do not respond well to chemotherapy and cannot always be safely removed by surgery.
Relatives of people with meningiomas are three times more likely to develop the disease, but little is known about what increases the risk. A small proportion of the tumours are linked to four rare genetic diseases.