The study also found a correlation between the amount of cfDNA and the density of macrophages - a type of white blood cell that make up a large percentage of the cells inside a GBM and represent a major barrier to the immune system fighting the tumor.
"By better understanding the macrophage makeup in a given patient's tumor, researchers may be able to identify which patients are the best candidates for treatments targeted against macrophages, or for immunotherapy in general," said the study's lead author Seyed Ali Nabavizadeh, MD, an assistant professor of Radiology at Penn.
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In addition to showing how imaging may predict the feasibility of liquid biopsy in GBM, the researchers say it also points to promise of what the combination can find. However, they say further study is needed to understand how this information can affect treatment outcome and disease progression.
"The more information we have about a tumor, the better. The combination of being able to measure the integrity of the blood brain barrier, understanding the density of macrophages, and tracking the tumor through liquid biopsy may be able to help us tailor our treatment decisions so that each patient is getting precision therapy that gives them the best chance of seeing a benefit," said the study's senior author Stephen Bagley, MD, MSCE, an assistant professor of Hematology-Oncology.
This study was performed in cooperation with the Glioblastoma Translational Center of Excellence at the Abramson Cancer Center. Additional Penn authors include Jeffrey B. Ware, Samantha Guiry, MacLean P. Nasrallah, Jazmine J. Mays, Jacob E. Till, Jasmin Hussain, Aseel Abdalla, Stephanie S. Yee, Zev A. Binder, Donald M. O'Rourke, Steven Brem, Arati S. Desai, Ronald Wolf, and Erica L. Carpenter.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award (UL1TR001878) and the McCabe Foundation Award of the University of Pennsylvania.
Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $7.8 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top medical schools in the United States for more than 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $425 million awarded in the 2018 fiscal year.
