Funding for new research into brain tumours has been announced in a bid to improve early diagnosis and treatment.
Experts believe the funding – worth almost £3.4 million will help reduce the number of people affected by brain tumours in Europe every year.
The scientists will mostly be focusing on gliomas.
Gliomas are the most common type of brain tumour and can be classified as high grade or low grade
Brain tumours can be cancerous, or non cancerous, which means they grow more slowly and are less likely to return after treatment.
Symptoms of a brain tumour can depend on which area of the brain the tumour affects.
Signs can include seizures, severe headaches, nausea vomiting and drowsiness, mental or behavioural changes or vision or speech problems.
Experts have revealed if smelling burnt toast really is a symptom of a brain tumour.
A European initiative led by the University of Plymouth designed to train the next generation of brain tumour researchers, has received funding of almost £3.4 million from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 – Research and Innovation Framework Programme.
The initiative will see a new generation of entrepreneurial and innovative early-stage researchers trained in the early diagnosis of brain tumours.
Experts said the potential for the project – called AiPBAND – to boost research is significant.
Around 14 fellows will be trained by experts in nine academic and three non-academic organisations participating in AiPBAND, with fields ranging from neuroscience, engineering, healthcare to economics.
Dr Xinzhong Li, Lecturer in Medical Statistics and Bioinformatics at Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, is leading the project.
He said: “This is an exciting bringing-together of a wide range of international inter-professional and inter-discipline expertise with one aim in mind – to future proof research into brain tumours by creating a whole new generation of researchers.
“We are looking forward to working with our partners on this game-changing project.”
Brain tumours cause symptoms because they take up space inside the skull when they grow.
Experts aren’t aware what causes the majority of brain tumours.
However the Cancer Research UK said exposure to medical radiation is the only definite risk factor people know about, although it only counts for a small number of tumours.
People who have had cancer as a child are also at an increased risk of developing a brain tumour.
Being overweight or obese also increases the risk of some types of brain cancer.