Around 60,000 patients in the UK are living with a brain tumour. Brain tumours are the most frequent solid tumour type in children and young adults, second only to leukaemias. Overall, less than 20% of brain tumour patients survive 5 years or more after diagnosis, and brain tumours are responsible for the most years of life lost of any cancer type. In the UK in 2013: 38 % of brain tumour patients visited their GP 5 times or more before referral to secondary care for diagnosis by imaging MRI/CT scan and neurosurgical biopsy because the symptoms such as headache are non-specific. There is an urgent need to develop new sensitive tests of brain tumours to help GPs in primary care.

A simple blood test performed by a GP in the clinic would aid decision-making and
early diagnosis. This would revolutionize care by speeding up diagnosis, reducing costs and anxiety of unnecessary scans and reducing the number of patients presenting with inoperable
large brain tumours. Moreover, this test could be used as an early monitor of brain tumour
recurrence.