Brain Tumor DNA Tracked Through the Bloodstream

Aberrant DNA can be tracked on an individual basis in the blood of patients suffering from primary aggressive brain tumors.

Following surgery to remove a tumor, the tissue can be sequenced and the blood taken at the same time can analyzed for the presence of the specific glioblastoma DNA.

Scientists at University of Cincinnati, (Cincinnati, OH, USA), working with a multidisciplinary team, have begun sequencing individual glioblastoma genomes and tracking abnormalities through the bloodstream. They hope that by mapping the various DNA rearrangements of glioblastoma tumors they will be able to establish biomarkers that will help them track the cancer's progress and guide their efforts to treat patients more effectively. They also hope the biomarkers will help them identify targets for new, improved therapies for the future.

The sequencing of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumors will be done on the GenomeAnalyzer (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA, USA), and performed by the department of genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York, NY, USA). Equally important, the discovery of biomarkers may provide scientists with new therapeutic targets. By identifying a specific genetic abnormality or mutation, for example, they can work to develop a future therapy that attacks that mutation.

Olivier Rixe, MD, PhD, the study's principal investigator, said, "There will be some circulating DNA in the blood coming from the tumor, and we will follow those very specific abnormalities. It is very much a personalized study, because we are not talking about the genetic abnormalities of other patients. We are talking about the sequencing of a biopsy of a specific individual's tumor. And we are talking about tracking individualized, personalized abnormalities.”

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and most aggressive type of primary brain tumor in humans, involving glial cells and accounting for 52% of all parenchymal brain tumor cases and 20% of all intracranial tumors. Despite being the most prevalent form of primary brain tumor, GBMs occur in only 2-3 cases per 100,000 people in Europe and North America.

Related Links:
University of Cincinnati
Illumina Inc.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine