Home Department: Human Biology
Supported by: Bio-X
Mentor: Melanie Hayden-Gephart, Neurosurgery

Lina is testing the use of cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) to detect mutations in the BCR-ABL1 gene, found in about 20-30% of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) patients. In cases of brain metastases, the CSF is a better method of tracking mutation than the blood, since it is difficult to bypass the blood-brain barrier. If mutations can be tracked in the CSF, it could provide a much less painful and invasive way to monitor mutation and determine the most effective treatments.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 24, 2016:

Using Cell-Free RNA to Monitor BCR-ABL1 Mutations in Brain-Metastatic Leukemia

Lina Khoeur¹, Yingmei Li¹, Melanie Hayden-Gephart¹
[Department of Neurosurgery¹, Stanford University]