A large proportion of babies born very early need intensive care, which can be painful. But the healthcare system fails to provide pain relief to the full extent. This is shown by the largest survey to date of pain in neonatal care, now published in the journal Pain.

A group at Niigata University succeeded in the early diagnosis of leptomeningeal disease in H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline gliomas by the detection of circulating tumor DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid of these patients by liquid biopsy. In two cases, leptomeningeal disease was detected by liquid biopsy earlier than traditional methods such as MRI or cerebrospinal fluid cytology. Early diagnosis and treatment of leptomeningeal disease may lead to improved survival in this deadly disease.