Andrew Peet, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Paediatric Oncology at the University of Birmingham and an Honorary Consultant at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, who is lead author of the study said:
“Time is so important in cancer diagnosis so our findings on different types of medulloblastoma having a detectable signature metabolism could be game changing for quickly diagnosing, and then offering the best possible treatment for children.”
Professor Steve Clifford, Chair of Molecular Paediatric Oncology at the Newcastle University Centre for Cancer, who jointly led the study said:
“Providing a rapid diagnosis using innovative scanning and AI (artificial intelligence) techniques, has the potential to revolutionise patient management, allowing early non-invasive diagnosis, tailoring of treatment decisions and reducing the period of uncertainty for patients and parents while awaiting a full diagnosis.
"Further, our biological findings provide critical new insights into the metabolism underpinning these tumours, and the potential to exploit these therapeutically.”