Best of the AANS Session-Early Detection of Medulloblastoma Relapse by Genomic Profiling of CSF-Derived Circulating Tumor DNA

Early Detection of Medulloblastoma Relapse by Genomic Profiling of CSF-Derived Circulating Tumor DNA

Video Transcription

Video Summary

In this video, Rahul Kumar, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Tennessee, discusses his research on using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as a liquid biopsy for medulloblastoma patients. He explains that current methods for disease staging and surveillance have limitations, and liquid biopsy has emerged as a promising platform for detecting and characterizing various cancers. Kumar and his team utilized CSF collected through lumbar puncture and isolated cell-free DNA for copy number profiling. They found that CSF liquid biopsy can detect tumor-specific copy number alterations and may provide insights into molecular targets. Longitudinal assessment of patients showed the potential of liquid biopsy in early disease detection and monitoring. The study was co-led by Anthony Liu and Kyle Smith.

Keywords

Rahul Kumar

University of Tennessee

cerebrospinal fluid

liquid biopsy

medulloblastoma