Why Biopsy Your Tumor
A biopsy is the best way to learn about your tumor's mutations and how it may respond to treatment. As precision medicine improves, knowing your tumor's mutations is more important than ever. Understand what to expect from your biopsy and why it is important to get before starting radiation.
The pons is very delicate, sits deep within the brainstem, and controls major life function. Because of its location, a resection of a DIPG tumor is not possible, although a partial resection may be possible with a DMG tumor located outside the pons. To confirm a DIPG or DMG diagnosis and its primary driver mutation, a biopsy has now become a standard practice at centers of excellence and many hospitals with neurosurgical expertise. Some centers use robotic assistance for the procedure with good results. A biopsy leaves a small incision and is generally not painful. There are some potential risks to the procedure to discuss with your doctor.
A biopsy of the pons is considered safe when performed by experienced neurosurgeons. A biopsy is rarely performed more than once, so you want to gather as much helpful information as possible. This precious tissue is being used to learn about DIPG and DMG tumors by leaders in the field, as well as to test treatments and provide precision medicine clinical trial options for your loved one. Consider scheduling your loved one’s biopsy at a center of excellence, where many biopsies of the pons have been performed. Choose a center that will ensure you have access to remaining tissue for a clinical trial when required.
More and more often biopsy results are guiding precision medicine efforts designed uniquely for your loved one. Tissue available can be used to identify targets and even be used to screen potential therapies. Ask if your biopsy results will provide the following:
primary driver mutation information such as H3.1K27m or H3.3K27m, IDH1 or IDH2.
a 500+ gene panel (or greater) or whole genome sequencing. Request to have full access to the actual data, not just a report, from the tumor sequencing to share.
For an in depth analysis for research purposes, current cutting edge practices suggests the biopsy tissue be further tested for: RNA sequencing, methylation information, proteomics information, and metabolomics information.
This information is called “multiomics”. Make certain to schedule the biopsy where learning this level of multiomics is possible. Because multiomics is leading ongoing research, also ask that your results be available to you in native form, portable by you to share with academic and industry researchers and placed in your xINFORM patient data portal.
Ask the number of core samples to be taken during the biopsy and confirm these samples will be available to your loved one’s team should a clinical trial option require tissue. Also confirm the full biopsy report will remain available to you in your electronic medical records.