Investigative needle core biopsies support multimodal deep-data generation in glioblastoma

Area of Science:

• Neuro-oncology
• Genomics
• Immunology

Background:

• Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive brain cancer with limited treatment options.
• Stereotactic needle biopsies are standard for diagnosis but their utility for monitoring treatment response is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the feasibility and utility of investigative stereotactic needle biopsies for comprehensive data generation in glioblastoma.
• To analyze spatial and genomic heterogeneity and assess the potential for creating patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models.

Main Methods:

• Performed highly resolved multi-omics analyses (scRNA-seq, spatial transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, etc.) on intra-operative biopsy tissues.
• Analyzed biopsies from multiple locations to assess heterogeneity.
• Investigated the generation of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models from biopsies.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated extensive data generation capabilities from routine stereotactic needle core biopsies.
• Integrated multimodal datasets, revealing spatially mapped immune cell-associated metabolic pathways.
• Validated inferred cell-cell ligand-receptor interactions and provided a framework for measuring heterogeneity.

Conclusions:

• Investigative biopsies offer rich data for understanding glioblastoma disease processes.
• Stereotactic biopsies are valuable for evaluating treatment responses and generating PDX models.