RESEARCH ARTICLE UK case control study of b o

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Tumours of the central nervous system (CNS) are the second most common group of childhood cancers com-prising a quarter of all malignancies in patients aged 0–14 years with approximately 350 children diagnosed each year in the UK [1]. CNS tumours also represent a major diagnostic group in teenagers and young adults aged 15–24 years with around 150 new cases per year diagnosed in the UK representing 10 % of all cancers in this age range [2]. Survival rates for CNS tumours in young people are generally poor when compared to other cancers occurring among 0–24 year olds: around 50 % of these patients die from their disease and those who survive are at particular risk of severely debilitating late effects [3]. CNS tumours presenting in the young differ notably from those in older adults in terms of the cellular ori