First gene for child brain tumour identified
Brain tumours are the second most common type of childhood cancer. Pilocytic astrocytomas affect around 145 children each year in the UK. Lead author Professor Peter Collins, based at the University of Cambridge, said: "This is the first time a specific genetic link has been made to the majority of pilocytic astrocytomas. What has occured is that scientists have found the first genetic link to a common childhood brain tumour. This was revealed through research published in the Journal of Cancer Research." The Cambridge researchers have pinpointed a rearrangement of DNA that causes a majority of all cases of pilocytic astrocytoma - the most common brain tumour in five to 19 year-olds. It was revealed that very little is known about the causes and genetics of childhood brain tumours. However, this discovery could help in providing better leads for more acurate treatments and diagnoses of this disease with greater acuracy.
read more at: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2008110304.
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