Genetic link to brain cancer found
Updated on 05 July 2009
A genetic link to deadly brain cancer has been uncovered by scientists.
US researchers found single-letter variations in the genetic code that increased the relative risk of glioblastoma by 50%.
People with the changes, known as a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), have a one in 7,000 chance of developing the disease. The normal risk is about one in 10,000.
Study leader Dr Robert Jenkins, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said: "This is not to cause those who possess these SNPs to worry about having CT scans every year. Increased relative risk is just that... relative."
Researchers compared the genetic codes of 692 adult brain cancer patients with those of 3,992 healthy individuals.
The cancer-linked variants were found on chromosome nine, one of the packages of DNA in cells that house the genes.
The results were checked with independent data from a comparison between 176 other cancer patients and 174 healthy adults.
"Replication across independent patient populations is critical in establishing a real association between glioblastomas and the presence of these SNPs in the genome of patients with that type of brain tumour," said Dr Jenkins.
Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive types of brain tumour.
Brain and spinal cord cancers affect around 4,500 Britons each year and cause more than 3,600 deaths. The findings were published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Genetics.
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