The main objective of this project is primarily to investigate whether there is a correlation in low grade glioma between brain tissue hypoxia in vivo, as assessed by a advanced imaging protocol and experimental direct intratumoral measurement, and the presence of new possible circulating markers related to the hypoxic state of the tumor and tumor progression.
This project consists of two research groups (Neurosurgery of Sant'Andrea Hospital and Department of Sciences and Biotechnologies of ¿Sapienza¿ University of Rome), both having a great experience as regards research, in surgical, medical treatment and molecular pathology of glioma.
Clinical and basic researchers team that will cooperate to have a traslational approach.
Principal aim of the present study is to demonstrate that EVs secreted by human low grade glioma cells characterized by different hypoxic levels cross an intact BBB and carry DNA with typical mutations.
This finding can support the usefulness of tumor-derived DNA within the circulating EVs as potential biomarkers to improve diagnostics, prognostics and follow-up for glioma.
This is particularly important in case of low grade glioma, because their recurrence or progression could be detected much earlier then we usually can do clinically or radiologically. An early diagnosis could help in a more effective and safer treatment, with an improvement of overall survival of such patients.
The study will demonstrate also that inside the glioma there are different niches of cells with an high heterogeneity, related to different oxygen tension exposition.
Interestingly, these different niches of cells will be collected and coltured separately. This is an innovative methodology to approach the intratumoral heterogeneity and will stimulate furterh studies to detect differences among the different groups of cells, in term of biology and response to chemo or radiotherapy.
These results will be able to help to understand the molecular mechanisms of gliomagenesis and tumor progression and to identify a new classification of gliomas based on tumor tissue oxygenation.
The results obtained from this project will be able to open new future clinical trials and to be subject for further investigations, obtaining research grant for the clinical application of derived knowledges