Klin Padiatr 2025; 237(03): 184
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1809077
Abstracts

Minimal Invasive Detection of Circulating Biomarkers in Pediatric Cancer Patients Undergoing Chimeric Antigen Receptor

E H Wahlbrink
1   German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
2   German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Germany
3   Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
4   Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
,
N Simon
1   German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
2   German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Germany
3   Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
4   Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
,
S Volz
1   German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
2   German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Germany
3   Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
4   Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
,
N Schwarz
1   German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
2   German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Germany
3   Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
,
T Wedig
1   German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
2   German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Germany
3   Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
4   Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
,
C Seitz
3   Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
4   Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
,
S Scheuermann
3   Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
4   Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
,
S A Navai
5   Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, USA
6   Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA
,
M Hegde
5   Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, USA
6   Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA
,
K Maass
1   German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
2   German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Germany
3   Hopp Children's Cancer Center at the NCT Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany
4   Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
› Author Affiliations
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Pediatric tumors pose therapeutic challenges due to genetic heterogeneity and limited precision oncology targets. Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell (CART) therapy has recently emerged as an option when other treatments fail. Traditional tumor monitoring relies on invasive biopsies, limiting therapy response assessment frequency, while liquid biopsies (LB) offer a minimally invasive alternative for dynamic tumor evaluation. This study tracks CART therapy response in pediatric cancer through serial LBs to analyze tumor cell turnover and molecular changes. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) was isolated from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) before, during, and after therapy application and analyzed using low-coverage whole-genome sequencing, methylation sequencing, and proteome profiling. Tumor as well as cfDNA-specific alterations, CNV patterns, and dynamic methylation changes enabled time-resolved tumor evolution analysis. Proteome data detected CAR target expression. Long-term minimal residual disease detection after successful therapy demonstrated that LBs complement standard-of-care MRI diagnostics. Their integration into future CART trials is crucial to assess full prognostic value.



Publication History

Article published online:
09 May 2025

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