E.2 Proof of concept for liquid biopsy: positive correlation between extracellular vesicles shed by high grade gliomas and volume of hypervascular tumour tissue on MRI

Abstract

Background: High grade gliomas (HGGs) shed extracellular vesicles (EVs) into the bloodstream. EV-derived RNA (EV-RNA) can be detected in plasma, making it a potential biomarker for HGG recurrence after treatment. We sought to establish a baseline relationship between EV-RNA in plasma and hypervascular HGG tissue on MRI. Methods: Eight patients with a new diagnosis of HGG had measurements of plasma EV-RNA and contemporaneous dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI. Patient-specific median signal intensity of corpus callosum (mSI-CC) was determined from 10 measurements on the relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) map. Tumour tissue with signal intensity > mSI-CC and > 2x, > 3x, > 4x and > 5x mSI-CC was segmented on the rCBV map. EV-RNA plasma concentration was correlated with tissue volumes. Results: Pearson correlation showed a significant positive relationship between EV-RNA plasma concentration and tissue volume with signal intensity > mSI-CC (r(6) = 0.899, p = 0.002). No significant relationship could be detected for progressively smaller tissue volumes with signal intensity > 2x, > 3x, > 4x and > 5x mSI-CC. Conclusions: EV-RNA plasma concentration correlates strongly with the total volume of hypervascular HGG tissue on DSC MRI at baseline and merits further evaluation as a biomarker of tumour behaviour in longitudinal imaging studies.