Dimitrios Mathios, MD

Brain cancer is a devastating disease. The tumors are aggressive and significantly decrease quality of life. Overall survival usually spans no more 1.5 years from the time of diagnosis. Available treatments usually fail to control the disease in the long-term. Early and non-invasive diagnosis of these tumors via a blood draw could significantly improve the patients’ quality of life. These assays could capture these tumors when they are smaller and asymptomatic, potentially making the treatments more tolerable and effective. The development of an accurate blood test to detect brain cancer however has proven to be a very difficult task with <10% of cases being detected with traditional methodologies. We propose a much more sensitive and multifaceted approach through innovative technology to capture more tumor specific alterations in the blood of cancer patients. The project has potential to provide accurate non-invasive diagnostic solutions across the clinical cancer care continuum.