A study looking at how to investigate causes of brain tumours in children and young people (UK CYAB)

Please note this trial is no longer recruiting patients.

This pilot study aims to find out if it is possible to carry out a larger study into causes of brain tumours in children and young people up to 24 years old.

We use the term ‘you’ throughout this summary, but of course if you are a parent, we are referring to your child.

Researchers are planning a large study to find out more about the causes of brain tumours. They want to look at a variety of possible factors such as diet, viruses and the use of mobile phones. This study will run alongside similar international studies. Hopefully all these results will be combined to improve our understanding of brain tumours in children.

To help prepare for the large study, the researchers will first of all carry out this pilot study. It aims to

Find out if is it possible to recruit large numbers of young people
Test a questionnaire to see if it provides the right information
Develop ways to collect and store blood and mouth cell samples
Help the researchers prepare documents for the larger study

Recruitment

Start 01/07/2007

End 30/06/2010

Phase

Pilot

Who can enter

You can enter this trial if you

Have recently been diagnosed with a brain tumour of any type
Are less than 25 years old
Have your treatment in Manchester

Trial design

This will recruit 50 children and young people who have been diagnosed with a brain tumour. It will also recruit 100 young people who do not have brain tumours. These ‘healthy’ volunteers are asked to take part by their GP (family doctor) by letter. This is called the control group. The results of the control group are compared to the group of children with brain tumours.

If you take part, you and your parents will be asked questions by a researcher. If you are under 12, you will probably have this interview with one or both of your parents. If you are over 12, you may have a separate interview to your parents.

You will be asked about many aspects of your health and lifestyle, including questions about illnesses, allergies, injuries, clubs you went to, contact with animals and your use of mobile and cordless phones.

If you have a mobile phone and you agree, the researchers will access your mobile phone records from your mobile phone operator. They will only record information about how many calls you made and for how long.

You may also be asked to have a blood test or to provide a sample of mouth cells (taken from the inside of your mouth using a small brush). Blood can be taken at the same time as other blood tests. These samples will be used to look at genetic differences between people and how this might relate to the development of brain tumours. The samples may also be used for future research.

This part of the study is optional. You do not have to agree to the blood or mouth cell sample if you don’t want to. You will still be able to take part in the study.