A field resource for the glioma cerebrospinal fluid proteome: impacts of resection and location on biomarker discovery.

Background: While serial sampling of glioma tissue is rarely performed prior to recurrence, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is an underutilized longitudinal source of candidate glioma biomarkers for understanding therapeutic impacts. However, the impact of key variables to consider in longitudinal CSF samples for monitoring biomarker discovery, including anatomical location and post-surgical changes, remains unknown.

Methods: Aptamer-based proteomics was performed on 147 CSF samples from 74 patients, 71 of whom had grade 2-4 astrocytomas or grade 2-3 oligodendrogliomas. This included pre- versus post-resection intracranial CSF samples obtained at early (1-16 days; n=20 patients) or delayed (86-153 days; n=11 patients) timepoints for patients with glioma. Paired lumbar-versus-intracranial glioma CSF samples were also obtained (n=14 patients).

Results: Significant differences were identified in the CSF proteome between lumbar, subarachnoid, and ventricular CSF from patients with gliomas. Importantly, we found that resection had a significant, evolving longitudinal impact on the CSF proteome, with distinct sets of proteins present at different timepoints since resection. Our analysis of serial intracranial CSF samples suggests the early potential for disease monitoring and evaluation of pharmacodynamic impact of targeted therapies, such as bevacizumab and immunotherapies.

Conclusions: The intracranial glioma CSF proteome serves as a rich and dynamic reservoir of potential biomarkers that can be used to evaluate the effects of resection and other therapies over time. All data within this study, including detailed individual clinical annotations, are shared as a resource for the neuro-oncology community to collectively address these unanswered questions and further understand glioma biology through CSF proteomics.