Detecting liquid remnants of solid tumors: circulating tumor DNA minimal residual disease

EJ Moding, BY Nabet, AA Alizadeh, M Diehn - Cancer discovery, 2021 - AACR
Cancer discovery, 2021AACR
Growing evidence demonstrates that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) minimal residual
disease (MRD) following treatment for solid tumors predicts relapse. These results suggest
that ctDNA MRD could identify candidates for adjuvant therapy and measure response to
such treatment. Importantly, factors such as assay type, amount of ctDNA release, and
technical and biological background can affect ctDNA MRD results. Furthermore, the clinical
utility of ctDNA MRD for treatment personalization remains to be fully established. Here, we …
Abstract
Growing evidence demonstrates that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) minimal residual disease (MRD) following treatment for solid tumors predicts relapse. These results suggest that ctDNA MRD could identify candidates for adjuvant therapy and measure response to such treatment. Importantly, factors such as assay type, amount of ctDNA release, and technical and biological background can affect ctDNA MRD results. Furthermore, the clinical utility of ctDNA MRD for treatment personalization remains to be fully established. Here, we review the evidence supporting the value of ctDNA MRD in solid cancers and highlight key considerations in the application of this potentially transformative biomarker.
Significance
ctDNA analysis enables detection of MRD and predicts relapse after definitive treatment for solid cancers, thereby promising to revolutionize personalization of adjuvant and consolidation therapies.
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