Liquid biopsies allow for easy sampling of a cancer’s genome by a simple blood draw. This not only enables access to crucial molecular information in patients that have difficult-to-biopsy lesions, but it also provides an opportunity to gain insight into a cancer’s heterogeneity across multiple lesions (spatial heterogeneity). Furthermore, it enables us to capture the clonal evolution of a cancer over time (temporal heterogeneity). To this end, we have developed a novel liquid biopsy-based targeted sequencing platform, utilizing unique molecular identifiers and in silico background suppression to achieve superior sensitivity and specificity. Based on this, we have initiated a large-scale genomic profiling studies of lymphoma and have investigated persistence of somatic mutations in plasma as a marker for minimal residual disease (MRD). Since then, we are integrating our findings into the development of dynamic risk profiling strategies with the ultimate goal of integration into clinical trials. Beyond Hodgkin lymphoma, we have a particular interest in aggressive B-cell malignancies, lymphomas arising in immune-privileged sites and clonal evolution during the course of novel therapeutic strategies. With many hundred patients analyzed, our robust experience in liquid biopsies has led to several collaborations including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and sarcoma.
Publications
MRD-2 in the GHSG HD21 trial assessed by a validated circulating tumor DNA sequencing assay
Jan-Michel Heger, Julia Mattlener, Helen Kaul, Justin Ferdinandus, Jessica Schneider, Julia K Schleifenbaum, Gundolf Schneider, Valdete Schaub, Mathias Hänel, Johannes C Hellmuth, Judith Dierlamm, Sonja Martin, Stephan Mathas, Julia Meissner, D Michiel Pegtel, Josée M Zijlstra, Anna Ossowski, Kerstin Becker, Michael Hallek, Bastian von Tresckow, Peter Borchmann, Sven Borchmann
Blood, 2026
Jan-Michel Heger, Julia Mattlener, Peter Herhaus, Julia Meissner, Karolin Trautmann-Grill, Conrad-Amadeus Voltin, Jessica Schneider, Julia K Schleifenbaum, Sophie Heidenreich, Carsten Kobe, Helen Kaul, Wolfram Klapper, Bastian von Tresckow, Peter Borchmann, Paul J Bröckelmann, Sven Borchmann
Blood Adv, 2026
Marie Anne-Catherine Neumann, Jessica Schneider, Max Szameitat, Philipp Schommers, Sven Borchmann, Michael Hallek, Peter Borchmann, Jan-Michel Heger
Blood Adv, 2026
Jan-Michel Heger, Julia Mattlener, Jessica Schneider, Philipp Gödel, Noëlle Sieg, Fabian Ullrich, Richard Ian Lewis, Teodora Bucaciuc-Mracica, Roland F. Schwarz, Daniel Rueß, Maximilian I Ruge, Manuel Montesinos-Rongen, Martina Deckert, Tobias Blau, Nadine Kutsch, Hyatt Balke-Want, Jonathan Weiss, Kerstin Becker, H. Christian Reinhardt, Michael Hallek, Peter Borchmann, Bastian von Tresckow, Sven Borchmann
Blood, 2024
Jan-Michel Heger, Laman Mammadova, Julia Mattlener, Sophia Sobesky, Melita Cirillo, Janine Altmüller, Elisabeth Kirst, Sarah Reinke, Wolfram Klapper, Paul J Bröckelmann, Justin Ferdinandus, Helen Kaul, Gundolf Schneider, Jessica Schneider, Julia Katharina Schleifenbaum, Roland T Ullrich, Max Freihammer, Sabine Awerkiew, Mia Lohmann, Florian Klein, Peter Nürnberg, Michael Hallek, Davide Rossi, Christine Mauz-Körholz, Stefan Gattenlöhner, Andreas Bräuninger, Peter Borchmann, Bastian von Tresckow, Sven Borchmann
J Clin Oncol, 2024
Jan-Michel Heger, Yannick d'Hargues, Fanni Kleinert, Julia Mattlener, Jonathan Weiss, Fabian Franzen, Christian Becker, Kerstin Becker, Philipp Gödel, Marcel Schmiel, Jörn Meinel, Ruth Flümann, Florian Simon, H Christian Reinhardt, Peter Borchmann, Sven Borchmann, Hyatt Balke-Want, Gero Knittel, Bastian von Tresckow
Eur J Haematol, 2024
Coming of age: the evolving role of circulating tumor DNA in malignant lymphoma
Jan-Michel Heger, Sven Borchmann
Leuk Lymphoma, 2022
Controversies in the Interpretation of Liquid Biopsy Data in Lymphoma
Maria Cristina Pirosa, Sven Borchmann, Fabrice Jardin, Gianluca Gaidano, Davide Rossi
Hemasphere, 2022
Sophia Sobesky, Laman Mammadova, Melita Cirillo, Esther E E Drees, Julia Mattlener, Helge Dörr, Janine Altmüller, Zhiyuan Shi, Paul J Bröckelmann, Jonathan Weiss, Stefanie Kreissl, Stephanie Sasse, Roland T Ullrich, Sarah Reinke, Wolfram Klapper, Elena Gerhard-Hartmann, Andreas Rosenwald, Margaretha G M Roemer, Peter Nürnberg, Anton Hagenbeek, Josée M Zijlstra, Dirk Michiel Pegtel, Andreas Engert, Peter Borchmann, Bastian von Tresckow, Sven Borchmann
Med, 2021
Liquid biopsy in Hodgkin lymphoma - moving beyond the proof of principle
Sven Borchmann
Br J Haematol, 2021
Liquid biopsy in lymphoma: Molecular methods and clinical applications
Melita Cirillo, Alexander F.M. Craig, Sven Borchmann, David M. Kurtz
Cancer Treat Rev, 2020