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Published on: June 8, 2019
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Liquid biopsy in pediatric brain tumors
Arushi Tripathy1, Vishal John2, Jack Wadden2
1Department of Neurosurgery, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
Frontiers in Genetics
|January 23, 2023
Summary
Liquid biopsy offers a minimally invasive approach for diagnosing and monitoring pediatric brain tumors, which are a leading cause of cancer death in children. Recent advances in liquid biopsy technologies are improving molecular diagnosis and treatment response assessment for these challenging cancers.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Neuro-oncology
- Molecular Diagnostics
Background:
- Malignant primary brain tumors are the most common pediatric cancer and a leading cause of death in children aged 0-14 years.
- Diagnosing and studying pediatric brain tumors is challenging due to the risks of invasive intracranial biopsies and high recurrence rates.
- Current clinical and radiographic monitoring methods have limitations, highlighting the need for minimally invasive techniques.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advances in liquid biopsy technologies for pediatric brain tumors.
- To discuss the application of liquid biopsy in molecular diagnosis and treatment response monitoring.
- To integrate findings from seminal papers and other studies in the field.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent seminal papers (Liu et al., 2021; Cantor et al., 2022; Miller et al., 2022; Pagès et al., 2022) and other relevant studies.
- Analysis of liquid biopsy techniques sampling cfDNA, ctDNA, RNA, extracellular vesicles, and tumor-associated proteins from blood, urine, and CSF.
- Integration of data to discuss current and emerging applications in pediatric neuro-oncology.
Main Results:
- Liquid biopsy enables the analysis of various biomarkers including cell-free DNA (cfDNA), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), RNA, extracellular vesicles, and proteins.
- Recent studies demonstrate significant progress in utilizing liquid biopsy for pediatric brain tumor patients.
- These advancements facilitate molecular profiling for diagnosis and monitoring of treatment response.
Conclusions:
- Liquid biopsy represents a crucial minimally invasive tool for understanding and treating pediatric brain tumors.
- Newest liquid biopsy technologies are being developed for improved molecular diagnosis and assessment of treatment response in pediatric neuro-oncology.
- Continued research and technological development in liquid biopsy hold significant promise for improving outcomes in pediatric brain tumor patients.
