Pediatric Brain Tumor Mutations are Detectable in Cerebrospinal Fluid This is a huge advance, although it is a small study and needs to be validated. The concept of a liquid biopsy is that instead of trying to get tumor tissue directly, you get it from blood, or in this case, cerebral spinal fluid, which is a lot easier than brain surgery. You can usually only get a biopsy once or twice of the actual tumor. In some cases, it is dangerous to do a biopsy at all. However, with a liquid biopsy, you can repeat it over time, and see how the tumor is responding to treatment. We are funding the development of a new drug that targets the exact marker this researcher is testing for. I can envision a day when you do this test, and personalize treatment based on it. Then repeat to see how the tumor is trying to mutate around the drug and be able to change the treatment plan.
Cloud Over Pediatric Oncologist and Brain Cancer Vaccine This is a dificult article to interpret. I have met this doctor and we went over his research in detail. The results he showed me were pretty good - but nowhere near claiming to be a cure. It was in line with the vaccine trials here in the USA. Some people do very well - others aren't helped at all. I know of a few people doing well on his vaccine. I also know people who weren't heped by it. We recently started tracking his treatment in our virtual trial project but don't have enough data to make a judegement on it yet.
