Circulating Tumor DNA in Cerebrospinal Fluid as an Early Biomarker of Leptomeningeal Metastasis (LM)

Leptomeningeal Metastasis Clinical Trial

Official title: Tissue and Fluid Collection Pilot Study to Develop Circulating Tumor DNA in Cerebrospinal Fluid as an Early Biomarker of LM in Patients With Metastatic Solid Tumor Cancer

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

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 .

Clinical Trial Description

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. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Leptomeningeal Metastasis
• Meningeal Carcinomatosis
• Neoplasm Metastasis

• NCT number: NCT02071056
• Study type: Observational
• Source: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
• Status: Completed
• Start date: May 2014
• Completion date: November 25, 2015