First National Study of Risk Factors & Effects of Meningioma

Yale School of Medicine is leading a $9.5 million study funded by the National Institutes of Health into the causes and effects of meningioma, a relatively common type of brain tumour that is usually benign and most often occurs in middle-aged or elderly women.

A meningioma is a tumour of the meninges or protective membranes around the brain and spinal cord. These tumors can start in any part of the brain or spinal cord, but the most common sites are the cerebral hemispheres of the brain.At present the two factors most associated with meningioma are hormones and radiation exposure, said the principal investigator, Elizabeth Claus, M.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. However, even these factors remain unexplored.The five-year grant from the NIH will also evaluate the quality of life for persons with meningioma, which though usually non-malignant is frequently associated with neurological complications. The NIH stated in awarding the grant that it was an ideal time to launch such a study given the recently enacted Benign Brain Tumour Cancer Registries Amendment, which mandates that federal cancer data collection processes include data on benign brain tumors.Claus proposes to collect data from 1,520 patients-1,000 women and 520 men, as well as 1,520 unaffected individuals. The data will be gathered from five population-based study sites in Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, the San Francisco Bay area and Harris County in Texas.(Source: Yale University: June 2006).