Cancer research
Brain tumour diagnosis could be made within hours, say researchers
New testing method means treatments could start sooner, possibly before patient leaves the operating table
Nicola Davis Science correspondent
Tue 20 May 2025 19.01 EDT
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A new method for diagnosing brain tumours could cut the time patients wait for treatments by weeks to hours and raise the possibility of novel types of therapy, researchers have said.
According to the Brain Tumour Charity, about 740,000 people around the world are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year, around half of which are non-cancerous. Once a brain tumour is found, a sample is taken during surgery and cells are immediately studied under a microscope by pathologists, who can often identify the type of tumour. However, genetic testing helps to make or confirm the diagnosis.
“Almost all of the samples will go for further testing anyway. But for some of them it will be absolutely crucial, because you won’t know what you’re looking at,” said Prof Matthew Loose, a co-author of the research from the University of Nottingham.
Loose noted that in the UK there could be a lag of eight weeks or longer between surgery and the full results of genetic tests, delaying the confirmation of a diagnosis and hence treatment such as chemotherapy.
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And there are other possibilities. “If you could identify, as we think we might be able to, the specific tumour type fast enough, and drugs were available that could be administered during surgery directly to the tumour area, then you have opened up a whole new class of potential treatment options,” he said.
In addition, he said, rapid diagnoses could help ensure patients are recruited into relevant clinical trials for new treatments as quickly as possible.
Dr Matt Williams, a consultant oncologist at Imperial College healthcare NHS trust, who was not involved in the work, said while faster diagnoses were welcome and reduced the period of uncertainty for patients, the main question was how the new technology could be used to change care.
“At the moment [intra-operative treatments] don’t really exist, although several groups are working on it ,” he said. “But if [we] want to unlock these approaches, we need to be able to make those diagnoses in the operating theatre to then be able to deploy these treatments.”
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Now that’s impressive. And, it can completely change treatment and outcomes. At the very least, it can reassure the patients with slow tumors to be reassured and those with fast ones to be expedited.
And, intra-operative treatments will surely soon follow.
Kudos and congrats to the team.
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