Studying Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins and Angiogenesis Proteins in Young Patients With Newly Diagnosed Central Nervous System Tumors

Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium

Overview

RATIONALE: Studying samples of cerebrospinal fluid from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This laboratory study is studying cerebrospinal fluid proteins and angiogenesis proteins in young patients with newly diagnosed central nervous system tumors.

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Investigate the feasibility of centrally collecting and processing high-quality cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from pediatric patients with newly diagnosed central nervous system tumors for proteomic studies. * Identify protein markers that might indicate the presence of a brain tumor using CSF samples collected from these patients. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients undergo cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collection from any or all of the following 5 sites: lumbar, cervical, ommaya, intra-operative (ventricular, cisternal), and/or external ventricular drain. CSF is obtained within 8 weeks of diagnosis but prior to (or concurrent with) the initiation of any post-operative therapy (excluding corticosteroids). CSF samples are examined for proteomic biomarkers by 2D gel electrophoresis, low-mass fingerprinting, and stable isotope labeling. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 99 patients will be accrued for this study.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Conditions

Brain and Central Nervous System Tumors

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMax age: 21 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Histologically confirmed CNS tumors of any of the following histologies: * Diffuse pontine gliomas\* * Focal/infiltrative tumors, including any of the following: * High- and low-grade gliomas * Gangliogliomas * Ependymomas * Oligodendrogliomas * Craniopharyngioma * Dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumors * Other low-grade neoplasms * Optic pathway gliomas\* * Seeding tumors, including any of the following: * Germ cell tumors (germinomas and nongerminomas) * Embryonal tumors, including any of the following: * Medulloblastoma * Pineoblastoma * Supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors * Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor * Other embryonal tumors NOTE: \*Histological requirement waived * Newly diagnosed disease * Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained as part of CSF diversion, initial diagnosis/staging, or administration of intrathecal chemotherapy (at the initiation of postoperative therapy) PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * Less than 22 years of age PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * No prior radiotherapy or chemotherapy * Prior corticosteroids allowed

Locations (8)

Children's National Medical Center

Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States

Children's Memorial Hospital - Chicago

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Number of IRB approvals of the study

IRB approval will be used as a surrogate marker of support for this protocol.

Time frame: Within 120 days of study release

Number of patients with proteomic data received at the Operations and Biostatistics Center

Feasibility implies registering patients, submitting samples for proteomic investigation, and successfully analyzing the data at the lab in a timely fashion. The number of patients with proteomic data received at the PBTC Operations and Biostatistics Center will be assessed at 12, 18, 24, and 30 months after the 4th institution receives IRB approval for the study.

Time frame: 12, 18, 24, and 30 months after 4th IRB approval

Number of differentially expressed biomarker proteins

Unsupervised proteomic profiling will be done on the CSF samples obtained pre-treatment in order to identify proteins that differ between pediatric brain tumor patients and a banked set of pediatric control "normal" samples.

Time frame: Pre-treatment

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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