Circulating Cell Free Tumour DNA in Lung Cancer
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Next Generation Sequencing of Circulating Cell Free Tumour DNA to Facilitate the Rational Selection of Combination Therapy in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer.
IRAS ID
149571
Contact name
Daniel J Nelmes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Research summary
Increasingly, oncologists are striving to stratify patients with cancer to therapies that are going to potentially offer the most therapeutic benefit and the least toxicities. This has been greatly assisted by our increasing ability to characterise tumours on a molecular level.
This research proposal is a feasibility study to assess Next Generation Sequencing, to assess a select panel of genes, known to be implicated in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, and that are potentially ‘targetable’ with therapeutic agents. We will analyse lung cancer tumour tissue taken from patient’s routine biopsies or surgical resections, and correlate the findings with circulating cell free tumour DNA, found in blood samples taken from the same patients. This may reveal the presence of more than one, concurrent gene mutations. This will continue to add to our ability to stratify patients to the correct systemic therapy, or indeed, combination therapies.
Simultaneously, we are performing cell culture, of selected human cancer cell lines, including lung cancer cell lines, often with two such mutations (eg. KRAS and PI3KCA). The DNA from the cell line is extracted, and the mutational status will be confirmed by Next Generation Sequencing, the same platform that will be employed for patient DNA analysis. These cell lines can be exposed to combination therapies, to determine rational combination therapies in-vitro. This can be used as pre-clinical, scientific data that may guide future clinical study treatment stratification design.REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/WM/1116
Date of REC Opinion
1 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion