•Testing cerebral spinal fluid, CSF, for brain cancer genes avoids brain biopsies
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Modern cancer chemo- and immunotherapy requires genetic analysis of a patient’s cancer cells and is called precision or personalized therapy. In the case of brain cancer, open biopsies to obtain tissue for gene testing is invasive and time-consuming. Harvard neurosurgeons at the Mass General Hospital have perfected a technique for rapid genetic analysis of brain tumors using cerebral spinal fluid material harvested using non-invasive lumbar punctures. The technique worked effectively in a pilot study that sampled material from gliomas and brain lymphomas. Genetic mapping was successful in 42% of cases cutting the time necessary to formulate precision, individualized cancer treatment from 12 to 3 days. That’s impressive and hopefully will save many patients from having their skulls tapped.
https://ashpublications.org/blood/article/doi/10.1182/blood.2024023832/516189/Rapid-Tumor-DNA-Analysis-of-Cerebrospinal-Fluid