The purpose of this study is to learn whether the DNA from cancer tumor cells can be found in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) that bathes the brain and spinal cord of patients before malignant the cancer cells themselves are able to be found in the CSF. The researchers doing this study hope this information can be used to develop a way to diagnose LM earlier .
The contents of dead/dying tumor cells can be detected in the bloodstream, and this may be enhanced by the leaky vasculature of solid tumors. Circulating tumor DNA has been detected in plasma from patients with osteosarcoma, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer, and in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with cancer-associated neoplastic meningitis. Until recently, it was impractical to develop an assay to routinely quantify circulating tumor DNA due to heterogeneity between patients and tumors. Advances in genomic technology now permit sequencing a tumor genome to identify patient-specific genomic aberrations. Major genomic alterations (i.e., insertions, amplifications, deletions, inversions, translocations) can be readily detected using PCR primers and probes which will recognize tumor DNA but not normal DNA, permitting creation of a personalized assay to quantify tumor DNA levels in bodily fluids. We therefore propose a pilot study to determine whether circulating tumor DNA levels increase in CSF prior to cytological evidence of LM in patients with a history of cancer originating from a visceral organ.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
5
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States
Tumor DNA detectability and cytological confirmation of leptomeningeal metastasis.
To determine whether circulating tumor DNA can be identified in the CSF of patients prior to cytological evidence of leptomeningeal metastasis in patients with a history of visceral cancer
Time frame: one year
Comparison of circulating tumor DNA levels in CSF with levels in plasma.
To determine whether circulating tumor DNA levels in CSF correlate with levels in plasma.
Time frame: one year
Correlation of circulating tumor DNA levels and patient survival.
To determine whether circulating tumor DNA levels are predictive of patient survival.
Time frame: one year
Circulating tumor DNA detection in CSF of patients with cytological evidence of leptomeningeal metastasis.
To determine whether circulating tumor DNA is detectable in CSF of patients with cytological evidence of leptomeningeal metastasis.
Time frame: one year
Circulating tumor DNA identification in the CSF of patients prior to diagnosis of leptomeningeal metastasis.
To determine whether circulating tumor DNA can be identified in the CSF of patients prior to diagnosis of leptomeningeal metastasis.
Time frame: one year
Measurement of circulating tumor DNA levels and cancer cell numbers in CSF following initiation of intrathecal chemotherapy for leptomeningeal metastasis.
Time frame: one year
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