Mayo Clinic researchers and colleagues at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) have found a connection between DNA alterations on human chromosome 9 and aggressive brain cancer known as glioblastoma.

The study, conducted with different patient populations at each institution, looked for genome-wide associations using individual patient data and information in the Cancer Genome Atlas.

"This is not to cause those who possess these SNPs to worry about having CT scans every year," advised Robert Jenkins, M.D. Ph.D., genetics researcher and Mayo senior author of the study.

He says an individual's environment also has much to do with their risk of cancer and that such external factors may need to be present to trigger onset of brain tumors, even for those with these SNPs.

"Increased relative risk is just that - relative." A normal person's risk of developing a glioblastoma is about 1 in 10,000. The risk is about 1 in 7,000 for a person carrying one of these SNPs.

Each year between 25,000 and 30,000 persons are diagnosed with glioblastomas - one of the most aggressive forms of brain tumor. The causes are not clear and very few who are diagnosed live beyond five years.

Source: Mayo Clinic