Genomic Sequencing Reveals Mutant ‘Drivers’ of Common Brain Tumor

Large-scale genomic sequencing has revealed two DNA mutations that appear to drive about 15 percent of brain tumors known as meningiomas. This finding could lead to the first effective drug treatments for the tumors, according to scientists at both the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute.

Surgery and radiation currently are the only treatments for meningioma, which are slow-growing, often-benign tumors that develop in the membranes surrounding the brain. Meningiomas can grow dangerously large, resulting in seizures and limb weakness — occasionally, they are fatal. In some instances, the tumors grow aggressively or their locations make surgery and radiation a challenge to carry out. Chemotherapy has proven ineffective as an alternative. For more information, click here to read the full release.