Among the proteins CDKN1B (p27/Kip1), ICAM1, MLH1, MMP11 and ST8SIA1, which we found were significantly decreased in the plasma from the patients with GP, only the CDKN1B decrease has been previously reported for plasma by others; the mutation and deregulation of this tumour suppressor protein that is involved in the regulation of cell-cycle progression is a common feature of many cancers38, including glioma, where it has been significantly associated with short survival39,40 and glioma grading40 in larger population studies. Here, MMP11 is linked to glioma.