(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- People with a particular gene may be more likely to develop brain tumors and at an earlier age than those who do not have the gene, according to a new study.

The discovery of the gene could help doctors eventually use this knowledge to identify people who have a higher risk of developing brain tumors at a younger age.

For the study, researchers took blood samples from 254 people with brain tumors and 238 people with no cancers. All of the patients with brain tumors had glioblastoma multiforme, the most common type of brain cancer. People typically survive an average of 12 to 15 months with the tumor.

The researchers found that people younger than 45 with brain tumors were more likely to have the Pro/Pro variant of the gene than older people with brain tumors or the healthy participants. Nearly 21 percent of the young people with brain tumors had the gene variant, compared to 6.4 percent of the older people with tumors and 5.9 percent of the healthy participants.

SOURCE: Neurology, Jan. 27, 2009