Patients classifications by risk groups

The findings also helped the team to accurately classify patients into three risk groups: high, medium and normal. Professor Richard Grundy, Dr. John-Paul Kilday and colleagues found an association between a greater number of copies of a specific region of a chromosome 1q25 called and about 20% of tumors obtained from children who are diagnosed variant of the deadly brain cancer.

This relationship causes patients undergoing chemotherapy and surgery present a poorer prognosis."This study is the first to rate increases in the number of copies of such groups of children with Endymion and have followed a similar treatment is a significant advancement to make predictions in children with this type of brain tumors," said the Dr. Kilday.

For his part, Professor Grundy said: "We hope these findings can be replicated in other studies underway in other countries like the United States. If your results match ours, you could include the presence of increased 1q25 copy number in future treatment internationally as a new marker of poor prognosis and thus eligible for treatment accordingly. Our intention is that this feature is taken into account in relation to tumors of all patients at the time of making a diagnosis. " Eponymous do not have an age limit, but the highest risk group is composed of the children. Although treatments have improved over the years, still dies 40% of younger patients. 

It is possible that the mortality rate has not dropped because it was not possible to accurately predict which tumors will be more aggressive.