Mutation Detection Using Plasma Cell-Free Dna In Children With Central Nervous System Tumors

Abstract BACKGROUND The role of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as a cancer biomarker for tracking treatment response and detecting early relapse has been well described for solid tumors outside the central nervous system (CNS). However, the presence of a blood-brain barrier complicates the application of plasma cfDNA analysis for patients with CNS malignancies. METHODS cfDNA was extracted from plasma of pediatric patients with CNS tumors utilizing a QIAmp® MinElute® kit and quantitated with Qubit 2.0 Fluorometer. Extensive genomic testing, including targeted DNA and RNA solid tumor panels, exome and transcriptome sequencing, as well as copy number array, was performed on matched tumor samples as part of the Texas KidsCanSeq study. An Archer® Reveal ctDNA28 NGS kit was then used for assaying the sensitivity of detecting tumor-specific mutations in the plasma of these patients. RESULTS A median of 10.7ng cfDNA/mL plasma (Interquartile range: 6.4 – 15.3) was extracted from 78 patients at time of study enrollment. Longitudinal samples from 24 patients exhibited a median yield of 7.7ng cfDNA/mL plasma (IQR: 5.9 – 9.1). An initial cohort of 6 patients was identified with 7 somatic variants covered by the Archer® Reveal kit. Four of seven mutations identified in matched tumor specimens were detected in patient plasma at variant allele frequencies ranging from 0.2–1%. CONCLUSIONS While challenging, detection of cfDNA in the plasma of pediatric patients with CNS tumors is possible and is being explored in a larger patient cohort along with pilot studies investigating cerebrospinal fluid as an additional source for tumor-specific cfDNA.