PRECISION-PDX

Advancing personalised cancer treatment for patients with brain tumours. Help change the future of Brain Cancer treatment!

Study Design

AT THE HOSPITAL

• An MRI scan reveals a potential tumor in the brain or spine.  As part of the standard treatment, the doctor schedules a surgical resection at Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL) to remove the suspected tumour or a small biopsy to obtain material for diagnosis.
• During the surgery, the tumor mass is removed. Part of the tumor is collected for the diagnostic laboratory. Left-over tissue is normally discarded.
• If the patient consents to the study, the left-over tissue is collected by the research laboratory at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH).
• For study participants, a blood sample is collected during the surgery.
• Selected information from patient’s medical record (diagnosis reports, medical history and treatments, medical images, relevant information such as gender, race, and age) are collected and pseudonimized before sharing with the research institute.

AT THE RESEARCH LABORATORY

• The research personnel collects the tissue and blood from the hospital.
• Tumor tissue is cut into small pieces. Part of the tissue is biobanked in the freezers for further molecular analyses.
• Part of the tissue is cultivated in the laboratory incubators, where tumor cells can survive and produce ‘’mini-tumors’’ in a plastic dish.
• Blood is processed to collect serum and blood cells. Immune cells can be used to analyse healthy DNA of the patient. Blood cells can also be cultivated with ‘mini-tumors’ in the dish to test new therapies.