LIQUID BIOPSY IN Low-grade Glioma Patients (GLIOLIPSY)

Diffuse low-grade gliomas (DLGG) (or WHO grade II gliomas) are rare tumors, with an incidence estimated at 1/105 person-year. DLGG are characterized by a continuous growth and an unavoidable anaplastic transformation. DLGG malignant progression is classically characterized by a continuum, from grade II to grade III or IV tumors.

To date, the histomolecular diagnosis of lower grade gliomas (that is, grade II and III gliomas) is achieved on tumor samples obtained from surgical resection or biopsy. Indeed, whereas brain MRI is often suggestive of DLGG, there is a need for a histological confirmation of diagnosis prior to any medical treatment. Moreover, MRI features to not always accurately predict the tumor grade, with grade II tumor presenting with contrast enhancement or non-enhancing authentic grade III tumors.

In this setting, the value of liquid biopsy (in blood or cerebrospinal fluid CSF) as a non-invasive, disease-associated biomarker has gained interest in the past decade, either at tumor diagnosis or to monitor tumor evolution in order to guide patient management and to detect changes of molecular features over time. While extracranial metastasis of glioma rarely occurs, recent reports suggest the possible presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood of high-grade glioma patients. Beside CTCs, other circulating biomarkers have been recently investigated in glioma, including circulating tumor DNA, microRNA or tumor-educated platelet (TEP) RNA. Some of these techniques allow genome-wide characterization of RNA/DNA contents.

However, these studies are all small exploratory studies that have mainly included glioblastoma (grade IV glioma) patients rather than lower-grade gliomas, or glioma patients with no precision on tumor grade. Moreover, some of these studies analyzed samples performed after the patient received a medical oncological treatment (chemotherapy or radiation therapy). They advocate for the search of a circulating signature that would not be restricted to biomarkers directly derived from the tumor but include markers induced at a distance by the tumor. Indeed, slow-growing DLGG are likely to induce a systemic reaction to allow, for many years, an immuno-tolerance of the tumor. This reaction could have an impact on peripheral blood cells, including their RNA content.

In this study, the investigators aim at conducting an exploratory study in DLGG patients to explore the value of several blood-based biomarkers for the disease diagnosis and/or monitoring.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Glioma
• Intervention / Treatment: Biological: Blood samples

Detailed Description

This study is a prospective, exploratory and bi-centric study.

The primary objective is to evaluate the presence of CTCs in a preoperative sample for the 3 following groups : patients with low-grade glioma, patients with high-grade glioma and patients undergoing neurosurgery for a non-tumor disease.

Visits in this study are as follows :

Inclusion Visit (V0) : 2 days (+/- 2 days) before brain surgery

Postoperative visits :

• Visit 1: 2 days (+/- 2 days) following brain surgery
• Visit 2: 3 months (+/- 1 month) following brain surgery

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Catherine PANABIERES, MCU-PH, Ph.D.; Phone Number: +33 04 11 75 99 31; Email: c-panabieres@chu-montpellier.fr
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Hugues DUFFAU, PU-PH; Phone Number: +33 04 67 33 66 12; Email: h-duffau@chu-montpellier.fr

Study Locations

• France
  • Montpellier, France
    • Recruiting
    • University Hospital, Montpellier
    • Contact: Hugues DUFFAU, PU-PH

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult patient aged ≥ 18, no age limit
• A signed informed consent obtained before any study specific procedures
• Patient affiliated to a French social security system
• Patient ability to understand experimental procedures
• Patient able to speak, read and understand French

Also for the "Low-grade glioma" group, the following inclusion criteria applies:

- Brain surgery for a suspected low-grade tumor, histologically confirmed on tumor sample

Also for the "High-grade glioma" group, the following inclusion criteria applies:

- Brain surgery for a suspected high-grade glioma, histologically confirmed on tumor sample

Also for the "Control group, the following inclusion criteria applies:

- Brain surgery for a non-tumor disease (cavernoma, arteriovenous malformation)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Legal incapacity or physical, psychological social or geographical status interfering with the patient's ability to sign the informed consent or to terminate the study
• Pregnant and/or breastfeeding women (this will be checked in declarative way)
• Patients with medical history of cancer other than the brain tumor, whatever the treatment received

Also, for the "Low-grade glioma" group, the following exclusion criteria applies:

• Previous chemotherapy or radiation therapy for the low-grade glioma (but previous surgery/ies is/are allowed)
• No indication for chemotherapy for 6 month after surgery

Also, for the "High-grade glioma" group, the following exclusion criteria applies:

- Previous chemotherapy or radiation therapy for the glioma

Also, for the "control" group, the following exclusion criteria applies:

- Diagnosis or suspicion of primary or secondary brain tumor

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Patients with low-grade glioma; Group 1	Biological: Blood samples; In total, about 20 ml of blood will be collected on EDTA tubes : collection of CTCs, TEPs and biobanking (V0, V1 and V2)
Other: Patients with high-grade glioma; Group 2	Biological: Blood samples; In total, about 20 ml of blood will be collected on EDTA tubes : collection of CTCs, TEPs and biobanking (V0, V1 and V2)
Other: Patients undergoing brain surgery for a non-tumor disease; Group 3	Biological: Blood samples; In total, about 20 ml of blood will be collected on EDTA tubes : collection of CTCs, TEPs and biobanking (V0, V1 and V2)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Proportion of patients with CTCs (>0) in a preoperative sample for the 3 following groups (patients with low-grade glioma, patients with high-grade glioma and patients undergoing neurosurgery for a non-tumor disease)	14 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number and characteristics of CTCs (in patients with CTCs) in a preoperative sample for the 3 groups of patients		Baseline
Platelets RNA profile in a preoperative sample for the 3 groups		Baseline
Number, characteristics of CTCs (in patients with CTCs) and platelets profile in a postoperative sample for the 3 groups		2 days following brain surgery
Number, characteristics of CTCs (in patients with CTCs) and platelets profile in a postoperative sample for the 3 groups		3 months following brain surgery
FLAIR tumor volume	calculated by manual segmentation of the tumor borders on preoperative T2/FLAIR weighted MRI	Baseline
Spontaneous growth speed	calculated as the evolution in mm/year of the mean tumor diameter derived from tumor volume (mm/year)	Baseline
Contrast enhancement	defined on post Gadolinium pre-operative MRI (presence or absence)	Baseline
Tumor location		Baseline
ECOG performance status		Baseline + 3 months following brain surgery
Tumor-associated symptoms		Baseline + 3 months following brain surgery
Time interval since the first symptoms and the first MRI		Baseline
Associated drugs (antiepileptic drugs, corticosteroids)		Baseline + 3 months following brain surgery
Previous treatments for the tumor		Baseline + 3 months following brain surgery
WHO classification		3 months following brain surgery
IDH status		3 months following brain surgery
1p19q status		3 months following brain surgery
ATRX status		3 months following brain surgery
Proliferation index (Ki67)		3 months following brain surgery
Presence of foci of malignant transformation		3 months following brain surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital, Montpellier
• Investigators: Study Director: Catherine PANABIERES, MCU-PH, Ph.D., University Hospital, Montpellier

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 15, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2022
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 25, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 12, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): November 24, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 11, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 8, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Circulating tumor cells; High-grade glioma; Low-grade glioma; Circulating biomarker; Tumor-educated platelets
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Glioma
• Other Study ID Numbers: RECHMPL20_0671; 2021-A00584-37 (Other Identifier: ANSM)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No