Scientists discover cellular "hotspots" in brain signifying earliest signs of cancer

Researchers at King's College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, & Neuroscience, in collaboration with King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, have found small clusters of cells in the brain that identify locations where tumors could become malignant, Report informs referring to Eurekalert.

The study, which has been published in Neuro-Oncology Advances, analyzed pieces of living human brain tissue from 20 people undergoing brain tumor surgery at King's College Hospital, the largest neuro-oncology center in Europe.

Brain cancers are difficult to treat because they are so invasive. Even after surgery and chemoradiotherapy there is still a high risk that some cancerous cells can be left behind, increasing the likelihood that the cancer will return. This unfortunately means that many of the young adults it affects do not survive beyond a year.

“Live human brain tissue offers great opportunities to study how a person's brain tumor responds to treatments. This will revolutionize therapy and bring precision medicine of brain cancer one step closer,” Alastair Kirby, first author on the study said.