Liquid biopsy analysis for early diagnosis of brain tumours
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Liquid biopsy biomarker analysis for early diagnosis and non-invasive monitoring of brain tumours
IRAS ID
322779
Contact name
Petra Hamerlik
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
The prognosis of patients diagnosed with brain cancer is grim. This aggressive disease is often diagnosed late, which together with the notorious resistance to existing therapies contributes to poor patient outcome. In addition to developing novel treatment paradigms, there is an urgent need to detect this disease early and to be able to monitor response to therapy using minimally invasive approaches.
A pilot study carried out by our team provided a proof-of-concept that tears can be used as a proximal liquid biopsy. We have developed a tear-protein based classifier that can differentiate brain cancer patients from healthy volunteers with ~95% accuracy. In this study, we plan to further characterise tear-bound biomarkers and develop a brain cancer-specific biomarker panel suitable for early diagnosis and non-invasive monitoring of the patients suffering from this deadly disease. Unlike the collection of blood or cerebrospinal fluid, which is a current approach for brain cancer, tear collection is non-invasive and risk-free, making it a more attractive strategy easily adaptable in clinical practice.
Participants will be invited to the research study if they are over the age of 18 and have one of the following: a suspected diagnosis of brain cancer, OR are at high-risk to cancer predisposition, OR a confirmed breast carcinoma, lung carcinoma or melanoma, OR a confirmed neurological non-cancer diagnosis, OR none of the above (healthy volunteer).
Participants will be recruited at NHS trusts across the UK with The University of Manchester being the coordinating centre. The study will require participants to provide blood and tear fluid samples and background clinical data over a maximum of 6 months.
The study is funded through research grants from the Brain Tumour Charity and Cancer Research UK.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/YH/0121
Date of REC Opinion
3 Jul 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion