ROCHESTER, Minn. — A Mayo Clinic study suggests analyzing DNA in spinal fluid could help doctors diagnose brain tumors when MRI scans are unclear or getting tissue through a biopsy is too risky.
The study included 76 patients facing tough diagnostic situations. Some had abnormalities in the brain or spinal cord without a clear diagnosis, while others had imaging changes that could be either tumor growth or treatment effects.
Researchers say they detected tumor-related DNA in 20 patients, or 26% of the group. For those patients, the findings gave doctors another piece of evidence to consider alongside imaging and other tests…