A DNA test on tumor tissue may help predict if a meningioma grows back
Original title: Meningioma methylation profiling as a complement to WHO grading: a single-center experience.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
Doctors only looked back at records of people already treated, so this is not proven as a way to guide care.
The short version
A test of tumor DNA may show which meningiomas are more likely to grow back.
What was studied. Doctors looked back at 106 people who had meningioma surgery. Each tumor got the usual grade plus a test that reads chemical marks on tumor DNA.
What they found. The DNA test called 55 tumors benign, 18 in between, and 2 malignant. It could not sort 31 tumors, and it disagreed with the usual grade in 18 of 74 cases. During follow up, 20 people had tumor growth that matched the DNA test, not the grade.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: This test may add useful clues about the chance your tumor grows back. But timing is a problem. Care teams made their plan about 8 days after surgery. The DNA report was not ready for about 23 days.
What it doesn't mean: This is not a treatment and not a cure. The test does not shrink or stop a tumor. It only gives doctors more information. This was one look back at patients at a single hospital. The test could not sort many tumors at all. Doctors say it should be used with the usual grading, not in place of it.
Source: PubMed, September 1, 2026 · Read the original
This plain-language summary was written by AI and published automatically after passing our automatic safety checks. How we write.