Identification of potentially actionable genetic alterations in solid and liquid biopsies of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

There still is a large unmet need to improve the diagnosis, treatment and treatment monitoring of patients suffering from Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM). In other cancer types, the detection of genomic alterations, resulting in the identification of actionable or prognostic biomarkers, has been proven helpful to improve treatment. Hence, the objectives of this research project are: (i) to gain insight into recurrent, actionable genetic alterations in MPM, which can be useful to monitor disease progression and treatment effectiveness; (ii) to understand the genetic factors involved in resistance to chemotherapy and (iii) to explore the detection of genetic alterations in circulating tumour DNA for its potential in early diagnosis and disease monitoring. To achieve this, a meta-analysis will be performed on in-house and publicly available sequencing data, samples of responding and non-responding patients will be sequenced by whole exome sequencing, and serial blood samples of MPM-patients will be analysed.

Keywords:MALIGNANT MESOTHELIOMA

Disciplines:Morphological sciences, Oncology, Respiratory medicine