In:
Journal of Translational Medicine, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, Vol. 19, No. 1 ( 2021-12)
Abstract:
Currently, there is no reliable blood-based marker to track tumor recurrence in endometrial cancer (EC) patients. Liquid biopsies, specifically, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis emerged as a way to monitor tumor metastasis. The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of ctDNA in recurrence surveillance and prognostic evaluation of high-risk EC. Methods Tumor tissues from nine high-risk EC patients were collected during primary surgery and tumor DNA was subjected to next generation sequencing to obtain the initial mutation spectrum using a 78 cancer-associated gene panel. Baseline and serial post-operative plasma samples were collected and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assays for patient-specific mutations were developed to track the mutations in the ctDNA in serial plasma samples. Log-rank test was used to assess the association between detection of ctDNA before or after surgery and disease-free survival. Results Somatic mutations were identified in all of the cases. The most frequent mutated genes were PTEN , FAT4 , ARID1A , TP53 , ZFHX3 , ATM , and FBXW7 . For each patient, personalized ddPCR assays were designed for one-to-three high-frequent mutations. DdPCR analysis and tumor panel sequencing had a high level of agreement in the assessment of the mutant allele fractions in baseline tumor tissue DNA. CtDNA was detected in 67% (6 of 9) of baseline plasma samples, which was not predictive of disease-free survival (DFS). CtDNA was detected in serial post-operative plasma samples (ctDNA tracking) of 44% (4 of 9) of the patients, which predicted tumor relapse. The DFS was a median of 9 months (ctDNA detected) versus median DFS undefined (ctDNA not detected), with a hazard ratio of 17.43 (95% CI, 1.616–188.3). The sensitivity of post-operative ctDNA detection in estimating tumor relapse was 100% and specificity was 83.3%, which was superior to CA125 or HE4. Conclusions Personalized ctDNA detection was effective and stable for high-risk EC. CtDNA tracking in post-operative plasma is valuable for predicting tumor recurrence.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1479-5876
DOI:
10.1186/s12967-021-02722-8
Language:
English
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Date:
2021
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2118570-0
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