TY  - JOUR
AU  - de Rojas, Teresa
AU  - Kasper, Bernd
AU  - Van der Graaf, Winette
AU  - Pfister, Stefan M
AU  - Bielle, Franck
AU  - Ribalta, Teresa
AU  - Shenjere, Patrick
AU  - Preusser, Matthias
AU  - Fröhling, Stefan
AU  - Golfinopoulos, Vassilis
AU  - Morfouace, Marie
AU  - McCabe, Martin G
TI  - EORTC SPECTA-AYA: A unique molecular profiling platform for adolescents and young adults with cancer in Europe.
JO  - International journal of cancer
VL  - 147
IS  - 4
SN  - 1097-0215
CY  - Bognor Regis
PB  - Wiley-Liss
M1  - DKFZ-2019-02139
SP  - 1180-1184
PY  - 2020
N1  - 2020 Aug 15;147(4):1180-1184
AB  - For most adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancers, age-specific molecular features are poorly understood. SPECTA, an academic translational research infrastructure for biomaterial collection, will explicitly recruit AYA patients and will therefore collect empirical data to bridge the molecular gap between pediatric and adult oncology. The initial pilot study, activated in Feb-2019 across Europe, will recruit 100 AYA patients (aged 12-29 years) with newly diagnosed or relapsed high-grade gliomas and high-grade bone and soft tissue sarcomas. The primary objective of the pilot is to determine feasibility and recruitment rates. Formalin-fixed tumor tissue and whole blood from study participants will be prospectively collected with clinical data and stored centrally at the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg (IBBL). Whole exome sequencing (WES) of matched tumor and blood, and tumor RNA sequencing and DNA methylation profiling will be performed at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg. Virtual central pathology review of scanned diagnostic slides will be undertaken by an international expert panel, and diagnostic material returned to the participating centers. A multidisciplinary molecular tumor board will release a clinically validated report to referring clinicians within 4-6 weeks after biopsy. SPECTA-AYA constitutes a major opportunity to gain knowledge about the tumor biology of this unique age group. It incorporates notable innovative aspects: AYA specificity, pan-European academic collaboration, centralized biobanking, comprehensive molecular profiling, and virtual central pathology review, among others. SPECTA-AYA will help untangle the tumor particularities of AYAs with cancer and aims to improve their access to novel drugs and personalized medicine. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:31465545
DO  - DOI:10.1002/ijc.32651
UR  - https://inrepo02.dkfz.de/record/144697
ER  -