Meningiomas, which account for about 3,500 new cases in the U.K. each year, are often discovered by chance during brain scans. While most never cause harm, some eventually require surgery or other treatment. Until now, it has been difficult to know which patients will be affected, leading to years of unnecessary monitoring for some and delayed treatment for others.

Researchers developed the IMPACT tool in 2019 based on data from about 400 patients under neurosurgical care at The Walton Center NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool. The tool considers the patient’s comorbidities, functional status and imaging characteristics of the tumor, to work out the risk of tumor progression, and need for treatment.