Bigger brains linked to higher cancer risk: Study

Having a bigger brain is directly associated with higher risk of brain cancer, says a new research.

The study explored that a larger brain consists of more brain cells, which leads to more cell division that can go wrong and create mutations resulting in the increased risk of cancer.

"Aggressive brain cancer is a rare type of cancer, but once you have it, the chance of survival is relatively low," said Even Hovig Fyllingen, a postdoctoral student from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

"Several studies have shown that the size of different organs is an important factor in cancer development. Women with larger breasts have a greater risk of breast cancer. We wanted to check if this was also the case for brain tumours," said Fyllingen.

For the study, published in the journal, Neuro-Oncology, the team from the varsity used MRI scans to measure the size of the brain of 124 patients.

Then 3D models were made from them so that the intracranial brain volume could be measured in millilitres.

The findings of the study revealed that women with big brains have a greater risk of developing brain tumours compared to men with big brains.

"Men have a larger brain than women because men's bodies are generally larger. It doesn't mean that men are smarter, but you need to have more brain cells to control a large body," said Fyllingen.

--IANS

pb/mag/bg