The Accompanying Project “Liquid Biopsy”
In recent years, the detection of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in the blood has gained increasing importance. This circulating cfDNA contains fragments from both healthy and tumor cells. Analyzing this “liquid biopsy” aims to detect the early development and progression of malignancies with minimal invasiveness. Moreover, miRNA, methylation, and protein patterns in the blood can be detected through liquid biopsy. In the future, this form of liquid diagnostics could also be used for therapy monitoring and aftercare. Given the high cancer risk in individuals with cancer predisposition syndromes (CPS), this blood-based and less invasive method of cancer detection holds particular promise for CPS patients.
If you have any questions about the accompanying project “Liquid Biopsy”, you may find what you’re looking for in the quick links provided in the following section. Alternatively, feel free to contact us directly:
If you have any questions about the accompanying project “Liquid Biopsy”, you may find what you’re looking for in the quick links provided in the following section. Alternatively, feel free to contact us directly:
Quicklinks zu “Liquid Biopsy”
Registration Requirements
The Liquid Biopsy Project is an accompanying project to the Cancer Predisposition Syndrome Registry. Therefore, registration in the CPS registry is a prerequisite for participation in the Liquid Biopsy Project. In the first step, liquid biopsies are collected from patients with the following CPS:
- Ataxia-Teleangiectasia
- Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome – High Risk (UPDpat, IC1-GOM)
- Bloom Syndrome
- Costello Syndrome
- Fanconi Anemia
- Gorlin Syndrome
- Constitutional Mismatch Repair Deficiency
- Li-Fraumeni Syndrome
- Neurofibromatosis Type 1
- Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome
- Rothmund-Thomson Syndrome
- Xeroderma Pigmentosum
Implementation
Approximately 10 ml of blood should be collected every 6 months from patients with selected CPS. Special blood tubes provided by the CPS Registry 01’s registry center are required for the samples. These blood samples can be taken as part of another diagnostic or routine blood sample.
To identify the samples, they are labeled with the patient’s initials, quarter and year of birth, and then sent to the Registry Center in Hanover. Subsequently, the samples are pooled and sent to the DKFZ in Heidelberg for further analysis.
No clinical decisions will be made based on the research results, and patients will not be informed of the results of their blood tests, which will only be used to identify markers.
The aim of this research project is to enable the early and least invasive detection of malignant processes or their progression. By comparing with the early detection tests of CPS patients registered in the CPS Registry 01, conclusions can be drawn about, for example, the temporal relationship between markers measurable in the blood and the clinical occurrence of symptoms, radiological evidence of a tumor, or changes in other laboratory values. There is no direct personal benefit for patients participating in the research project.
Patient Registration for the Accompanying Project “Liquid Biopsy”
We are delighted when individuals living with a CPS decide to take part in the “Liquid Biopsy” accompanying project. There are two ways to do this:
