Comparing glioblastoma biomarkers between plasma and tumour samples

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Comparing novel glioblastoma biomarkers between plasma derived extracellular vesicles and FFPE tumour tissue.

  • IRAS ID

    346858

  • Contact name

    Stephen D Robinson

  • Contact email

    s.d.robinson@sussex.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Sussex

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    NA, NA

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    0 years, 11 months, 7 days

  • Research summary

    Glioblastoma is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity with little improvement in survival compared to other tumour types. The identification and development of new biomarkers, including identifying new subtypes of glioblastoma, is key to improve outcomes for these patients.

    Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small particles released by all cells, and brain tumour derived-EVs have been identified in the peripheral blood at much higher concentrations that other typically studied liquid biopsy analytes including circulating tumour cells and tumour DNA.

    Access to blood (plasma) samples has already been provided and the contents of the blood EVs (including the protein cargo) are being investigated to identify differences between glioblastoma patients and healthy volunteer samples.

    Therefore, we are looking to compare the protein changes identified within the plasma EVs to the protein content of the tumour cells from the same patients. Comparison of the differences between the EV contents and the tumour cell contents should help in the understanding of what processes the cancer has changed as part of its development. Additionally, integration of these findings using advanced computational techniques including artificial intelligence models may help identify new subtypes of glioblastoma.

  • REC name

    West of Scotland REC 5

  • REC reference

    25/WS/0021

  • Date of REC Opinion

    6 Feb 2025

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion