Two leukaemia genes may 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.
The genes AF10 and MLLT10 are both known to increase the risk of leukaemia.
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 disease accounts for around a quarter of the more than 4,500 malignant brain cancers diagnosed each year in the UK.
Richard Houlston, professor from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said: “The genetic region we’ve found is very closely linked with two genes called AF10 and MLLT10 which we know are involved in the development of leukaemia. We can’t say at this stage whether the diseases are linked or even if the two genetic regions interact, but we’ll be looking at this in our follow-up studies.”
Meningioma tumours grow slowly in the tissues of the brain and spinal cord. 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.
“We knew that people with certain rare inherited diseases are more likely to develop meningiomas,” said Prof. Houlston.
“Although these inherited diseases significantly increase the chance of getting this type of brain cancer, they are so rare that they account for a very small proportion of the increased risk among relatives of people with meningiomas. Our study begins to shed light on the biggest part of the inherited risk.”
Julie Sharp, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK, which funded the study, said: “Brain tumours are usually more difficult to treat because of the sensitive position of the tumour. As a result of this, survival rates have remained quite low.
“Studies like this are important in helping us understand more about the way brain tumours develop, and this research has already given scientists another lead to follow to learn more about the disease.”