Microarray CGH Analysis of Circulating Tumoral Plasma DNA in NF1 Patients With MPNSTs

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a frequent autosomal dominant disorder, caused by heterozygous mutations of the NF1 tumor suppressor gene (chr.17q11.2). One of the main clinical features is the development of benign and malignant tumors. The most common benign tumors in these patients are tumors of the peripheral nerve, named neurofibromas. Every NF1 patient has a life time risk of 8-13% to develop a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) starting from a pre-existing neurofibroma. MPNSTs lead to a bad prognosis for the patient, with an overall five-year survival of less than 25%. Complete resection is the standard treatment, but this is often difficult due to the size of the tumors and the location on important nerves, moreover the tumor is frequently metastatic at the time of diagnosis. For MPNSTs, like for other cancers, the extent and the spread of the disease at time of diagnosis is an important factor in determining treatment outcome. In this regard, the analysis of tumor derived cell-free circulating DNA in plasma of NF1 patients would open up the possibility to diagnose and monitor the development and progression of MPNSTs using a small blood sample. In cooperation with P. Schöffski (UZLeuven), we plan to collect blood samples from cancer patients to optimize the DNA extraction procedure starting from plasma samples. It is known that patients with cancer have a higher amount of free circulating DNA in plasma than individuals without cancer and therefore we want to optimize the DNA extraction procedure on plasma from patients with cancer. In the meantime, matching MPNST and plasma samples from NF1 patients will be collected and sent to us from the University of Eppendorf (Victor Mautner) to optimize the array CGH protocol for the detection of copy number changes in plasma DNA of NF1 patients with MPNSTs.

Sex

All

Inclusion Criteria:

* according to NF1 criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

* NF1 patients where the tumor is already removed