NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[longfellow95]

It appears that these subgroups are normally identified by micro array analysis, which 'requires a significant amount of tumor tissue obtained at resection or biopsy.'

This study shows that the mesenchymal subclass can be identified by analysis of MRI image. Specifically; 'Results suggest that volume ratio may be a simple, cost-effective, and noninvasive biomarker for quickly identifying MES GBM.'

Molecular subtypes of GBM have different prognoses and potentially different susceptibility to specific treatments. Currently these phenotypes are determined by microarray analysis, which requires a significant amount of tumor tissue obtained at resection or biopsy. Thus noninvasive surrogates for molecular subtypes of GBM could be clinically useful. In this study, we investigated the ability of quantitative volumetric measurements of tumor burden on standard presurgical anatomic MR images to differentiate MES from non-MES GBM phenotypes. Results suggest the volume of contrast enhancement as well as the volume ratio of T2/FLAIR hyperintensity to contrast enhancement to be powerful biomarkers for the MES phenotype.

https://academic.oup.com/neuro-oncology/article/15/5/626/1014332/Identifying-the-mesenchymal-molecular-subtype-of