‘Noah’s Ark test’ could tell GPS if people have tumours

A SIMPLE test asking people to name as many animals as they can in 60 seconds may help identify if people with persistent headaches have a brain tumour.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found almost 90 per cent of those who named fewer than 13 animals in one minute had a tumour.

Those who scored 14 or higher were almost eight times more likely not to have a brain tumour – while a poor performance more than tripled the likelihood of a tumour being present.

The “Noah’s Ark” test offers a quick way of flagging when a tumour might be present, to help GPS decide who needs to be taken for rapid imaging.

Lead author Dr Paul Brennan, honorary consultant neurosurgeon at the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian, said: “The first symptoms experienced by patients with a brain tumour are often non-specific, such as headaches, where a non-tumour diagnosis is much more likely.

“Our study showed that a simple language test, which can be quickly and easily administered, could help GPS decide who is most likely to have a brain tumour.” More than 12,000 Britons are diagnosed with a brain tumour every year, but early detection is hard. Symptoms are often vague, such as headaches or co-ordination issues.

For every 1,000 people going to a GP with headaches, one or two will have a brain tumour. The researchers also found that a reduction in performance was most marked in patients with the most aggressive brain tumours: highgrade gliomas, cerebral lymphomas and cerebral metastases.

Dr David Jenkinson, chief scientific officer at the Brain Tumour Charity, which funded the study, said it was “promising that such a simple and inexpensive test could help diagnose brain tumours more quickly”.

The research was published in the journal BMC Neurology.