Anaplastic Astrocytoma, Glioblastoma Multiforme
Conditions
Keywords
Malignant glioma, Anaplastic astrocytoma, Glioblastoma multiforme, Immune, Immunophenotyping, Immune cells, activation state, Quality of live, translational research
Brief summary
In this explorative study immunological changes during tumor therapy will be analyzed in patients with malignant glioma. Immunophenotyping before and during therapy is used as analysis method. Thereby immune cells are quantitatively and qualitatively detected from patient's blood at continuous time points. Additionally relevant mediators like cytokines, danger signals and chemokines are analyzed by other methods. Obtained results may give information about the effects of therapy on immunological processes and immune cells and may help to find immunological based predictive or prognostic tumor markers and to define time points for including additional immune therapy in the future.
Detailed description
Patients with malignant glioma generally have a bad prognosis. To improve patients' situation new therapy options as well as new possibilities to determine prognosis and prediction more precisely are needed. One approach is the targeted activation of the immune system to recognize and eliminate tumor cells. Due to cerebral tumors the brain is no immune privileged organ anymore, so that immune cells may pass the haemato-encephalic barrier to attack tumor cells. This study aims to offer valuable clues about how the immune system is influenced by standard therapies (radiotherapy and chemotherapy). Just with the background knowledge of immune mechanisms and influencing factors by tumor therapy, an effective anti-tumor response can systematically be induced by modulating immune therapy. To analyze immunological changes, immunophenotyping by flow cytometry is performed with blood from patients with malignant gliomas during their therapy concluding chemoradiation and chemotherapy alone. Count, class and activation status of immune cells are detected by flow cytometry. Together with additional analysis methods, information about immunological mediators like cytokines, chemokines and danger signals can be received. For these purposes serum and plasma are generated from blood samples and stored for prospective questions. The explorative determined results may also help to discover new, immunological based, prognostic or predictive tumor markers.
Interventions
OTHERBlood sample and life quality questionnaires
Blood will be drawn at distinct time points during and after radio(chemo)therapy
Sponsors
University of Erlangen-Nürnberg Medical School
Study design
Observational model
CASE_ONLY
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* patients with glioblastoma or anaplastic astrocytoma * legal age * planned chemoradiation and adjuvant chemotherapy (according to Stupp et. al.)
Exclusion criteria
* Fertile patients who refuse effective contraception during study treatment * persistent drug and/or alcohol abuse * patients not able or willing to behave according to study protocol * patients in care * patients that are not able to speak German
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| immunological state of patients comprising number, type and activation state of immune cells, cytokines and danger signals from peripheral blood | patients will be followed for the duration of therapy and follow-up until recurrence, an expected average of 6 months | Time points for blood sample collections: Before start of chemoradiation (RCT). In 3th week of RCT. At last day of RCT. At the beginning of chemotherapy (CT) (about 4 weeks after RCT). During CT each three to four weeks. At follow-up visits each one to three months. During recurrence therapy. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| documentation of medication | patients will be followed for the duration of therapy and follow-up until recurrence, an expected average of 6 months | — |
| Acquisition of changes in imaging | patients will be followed for the duration of therapy and follow-up until recurrence, an expected average of 6 months | — |
| Acquisition of life quality according to quality of life questionnaire (QLQ) (EORTC QLQ -BN20) | patients will be followed for the duration of therapy and follow-up until recurrence, an expected average of 6 months | — |
| Acquisition of toxicities according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI CTCAE) version 4.0 | patients will be followed for the duration of therapy and follow-up until recurrence, an expected average of 6 months | — |
| overall survival | patients will be followed for the duration of therapy and follow-up until recurrence, an expected average of 6 months | — |
| progression free survival | patients will be followed for the duration of therapy and follow-up until recurrence, an expected average of 6 months | — |
| correlation of immunological parameters with clinical data | patients will be followed for the duration of therapy and follow-up until recurrence, an expected average of 6 months | Correlation with results of immunophenotyping, possibly definition of medically relevant markers |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed