scholarly journals ctDNA to Guide Adjuvant Therapy in Localized Colorectal Cancer (CRC)

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2869
Author(s):  
Laura Masfarré ◽  
Joana Vidal ◽  
Concepción Fernández-Rodríguez ◽  
Clara Montagut

Currently, the standard treatment for patients with localized colorectal cancer (CRC) includes surgical resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy based on clinicopathological features. Recurrence risk stratification in those patients is of utmost importance to guide clinicians to avoid both under- and overtreatment. Recently, the concept of minimal residual disease (MRD) has emerged as the detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) carrying tumor-specific genomic or epigenomic alterations in the bloodstream of patients after surgery. Emerging studies described how the detection of MRD is a powerful prognostic biomarker to identify patients at higher risk of recurrence and who will potentially benefit the most from a systemic adjuvant treatment. Based on that unprecedented finding, several clinical trials involving stage II and III CRC patients are ongoing evaluating the impact of ctDNA guided treatment by escalating or deescalating adjuvant chemotherapy based on ctDNA MRD detection. This review provides a critical overview of current perspectives of liquid biopsy in early-stage CRC including technical, biological, and clinical key points, as well as ongoing ctDNA-based clinical trials that ultimately aim to improve clinical outcomes of patients with CRC.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelica Petrillo ◽  
Massimiliano Salati ◽  
Dario Trapani ◽  
Michele Ghidini

Abstract:: Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) is a novel tool that has being investigated in several types of tumours, includ-ing colorectal cancer (CRC). In fact, the techniques based on liquid biopsies are proposed as appealing non-invasive alter-natives to tissue biopsy, adding more insights into tumour molecular profile, heterogeneity and for cancer detection and monitoring. Additionally, some analysis showed that in CRC patients ctDNA seems to act as biomarker able to predict the outcome (prognostic role) and the response to treatments (predictive role). In particular, in the early stage CRC (stage I-III) it could represent a time marker of adjuvant therapy benefit as well as a marker of minimal residual disease and recurrence risk in addition to the already recognized risk factors. In metastatic CRC, the analysis of molecular tumour profile by ctDNA has shown to have high concordance with the tissue biopsy at diagnosis. Additionally, some studies demonstrated that ctDNA level during the treatment was linked with early response to treatment and prognosis. Finally, the quantitative anal-ysis of ctDNA and copy number alterations may be useful in order to detect resistance to therapy at the time of progression of disease and to help in finding new therapeutic targets.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e18022-e18022
Author(s):  
Mikhail Fedyanin ◽  
Shamai Aliyeva ◽  
Liubov Yu Vladimirova ◽  
Sanal Erdniev ◽  
Alexander Ivanov ◽  
...  

e18022 Background: In Russia, there are no federal screening programs for detecting early stage of colon cancer; therefore we can assess the impact of various factors that could potentially affect the mortality of pts with mCRC Methods: We conducted a survey with 13 question according treatment of pts with CRC in 17 regional comprehensive cancer centers in 14 regions of Russia, with a total population of 26.347 billion. Results of the survey were conducted by methods of descriptive statistics. Effects of factors on mortality rate in regions were analyzed by a regression model Results: Only 34% pts with stage II-III received adjuvant chemotherapy. Mutation status of KRAS gene has been evaluated only in 33% pts with mCRC. In 2013, metastasectomy was performed only 13% of pts. Only 80% of pts who needed systemic treatment received chemotherapy (CT): doublets of CT (XELOX/FOLFOX/FLOX or FOLFIRI/XELIRI/IFL) - 49%, monotherapy of fluoropyrimidines - 39% of pts, bevacizumab – in 14% and anti-EGFR antibodies - 5% pts. Only 14% of pts with mCRC was placed central vein devices. Second line CT was performed in 47% pts: doublets – in 54%, monotherapy of fluoropyrimidines - in 24% pts, bevacizumab - 13% and anti-EGFR antibody - 8%. Third-line treatment was performed in 25% of pts: anti-EGFR antibodies - in 7.5%. According to regression analysis adjuvant chemotherapy (р = 0.01), bevacizumab only in the 1st line (р = 0.01), and installation of central venous devises (р = 0.07) and anti-EGFR antibody in the 1st line (р = 0.1) in wtKRAS pts had independent positive effect on the mortality rate in regions. We revealed a significant reverse connection between a high mortality rate in the region and administration of fluoropyrimidine monotherapy as 1st line treatment of metastatic disease (p = 0.01) Conclusions: The mortality with colorectal cancer is depended of complex factors that reflect the health care organization in the region, both at the stage of treatment of pts with early-stage and metastatic disease. We revealed that targeted agents are the most effective only in the 1st line settings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 4108-4108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pashtoon Murtaza Kasi ◽  
Farshid Dayyani ◽  
Van K. Morris ◽  
Scott Kopetz ◽  
Aparna Raj Parikh ◽  
...  

4108 Background: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing can be used for the assessment of molecular residual disease (MRD) in patients with early-stage or advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). Prospective evaluation of this methodology in clinical practice has been limited to-date. Methods: A personalized and tumor-informed multiplex PCR assay (Signatera 16-plex bespoke mPCR NGS assay) was used for the detection and quantification of ctDNA for MRD assessment. We analyze and present results from an ongoing early adopter program of ctDNA testing across the spectrum of CRC management. Results: Here we present a total of 250 patients with colon (n=200), rectal (n=40), and other lower gastrointestinal cancers (n =10; anal, appendiceal, small bowel). MRD positivity rates and ctDNA quantification (mean tumor molecules/mL) are shown in Table. ctDNA detection was significantly associated with stage of disease (p<0.0001 Chi-square: 70.33). Additionally, in patients with radiologically measurable active metastatic disease, ctDNA detection rate was 100%. On the contrary, patients with advanced/metastatic disease who had partial response to treatment or no evidence of disease (NED) showed 28.5% and 19.2% of ctDNA-positivity, respectively. Conclusions: This is the first large, real-world study reporting on the results from a clinically validated MRD assay. For the first time we delineate MRD rates and quantify ctDNA concentration in patients with early-stage and advanced CRC. Furthermore, we provide an initial readout that effective ongoing treatment in patients with CRC may be correlated with ctDNA clearance. Ongoing analysis expanded to a cohort of 1200 clinical cases including correlation with genomic and serial testing will be presented. [Table: see text]


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 3602-3602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aparna Raj Parikh ◽  
Emily E. Van Seventer ◽  
Genevieve Marie Boland ◽  
Anna Hartwig ◽  
Ariel Jaimovich ◽  
...  

3602 Background: ctDNA identifies patients (pts) at high risk for disease recurrence post CRC resection (post-op). Current ctDNA residual disease detection approaches assess only genomic alterations (alts) and rely on tissue sequencing to identify tumor-derived alts. We evaluated a plasma-only ctDNA assay to identify high risk pts. Methods: 72 CRC pts (surgery only = 42; adjuvant therapy (adj) = 30) had post-op and/or post-adj plasma samples (3-4mL). Extracted cfDNA (median 27 ng) was analyzed using a single-sample NGS test validated in early stage CRC that integrates assessment of genomic alts with epigenomic cancer signature (Guardant Health, CA). A variant classifier was applied to differentiate tumor-derived from non-tumor derived alts in a tumor tissue-uninformed approach. Results: In the surgery cohort, samples were collected a median of 31 days (d) post-op. 7/8 pts with post-op ctDNA detected (ctDNA+) recurred (PPV 88%; median time to recurrence (mTTR) 248d). The recurrence-free pt has < 180d follow-up. 7/34 pts without ctDNA detected (ctDNA-) recurred (NPV 79%; mTTR 333d). 1/1 Stage 0-II ctDNA+ pt recurred (PPV 100%; TTR 440d) while 1/20 ctDNA- recurred (NPV 95%; TTR 440d). 27 pts in the adj cohort had samples collected a median of 37d post-adj. 6/6 ctDNA+ pts recurred (PPV 100%, mTTR 239d). 4/21 ctDNA- pts recurred (NPV 81%, mTTR 466d). 2/2 ctDNA+ and 0/11 ctDNA- Stage III pts recurred (PPV, NPV 100%, mTTR 420d). All 3 post-op ctDNA+/post-adj ctDNA+ (ctDNA persistence) pts recurred. 1/2 post-op ctDNA+/post-adj ctDNA- (ctDNA clearance) pts is recurrence free (306d). 2 post-op ctDNA-/post-adj ctDNA+ pts recurred. In the entire cohort, ctDNA+ after standard therapy completion had a recurrence PPV 93%, NPV 80%, HR 11.29 (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: In post-op CRC, ctDNA detection utilizing a tumor-uninformed integrated genomic and epigenomic assay has high recurrence PPV and NPV following standard therapy completion. ctDNA identifies pts who may benefit from post-op adj therapy or additional/modified post-adj therapy. These findings demonstrate that ctDNA detection from a single post-op/post-adj plasma sample stratifies high/low risk pts and informs therapy decision making.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 3528-3528
Author(s):  
Erin L. Symonds ◽  
Susanne Kartin Pedersen ◽  
Bernita Hui Li Yeo ◽  
Hiba Al Naji ◽  
Susan E. Byrne ◽  
...  

3528 Background: Residual disease after treatment for colorectal cancer (CRC) poses a risk for recurrence but imaging and CEA are limited in their capacity to detect residual disease. A simple test is needed for assessing treatment response. This study determined whether levels of methylated BCAT1/IKZF1 DNA in blood correlate with tumor burden and whether post-treatment levels inform efficacy of different treatments for CRC. Methods: Patients with primary CRC had blood collected prior to treatment (n = 282, 59.9% males, median age 68.5y). Cell free DNA (cfDNA) was extracted from plasma and assayed for methylation in BCAT1 and IKZF1. Detection of methylation in either gene deemed a sample positive; levels were expressed as %methylation (average methylation/average cfDNA). Positive patients had additional samples collected post-treatment for early stage CRC (surgery, n = 31), advanced/metastatic CRC (surgery + adjuvant chemotherapy, n = 15), and rectal cancer (neoadjuvant therapy, surgery +/- chemotherapy, n = 6), or following mid-therapy suspension of treatment in advanced CRC (n = 24). Tumor size was expressed as the maximum diameter of the primary (assessed surgically or by MRI). Results: Pretreatment results increased with CRC stage. Positivity by stage was: I, 23.7% (14/59); II, 62.1% (54/87); III, 68.6% (70/102); IV, 85.3% (29/34). Level by stage: I, 0.0%; II, 0.06%; III, 0.07%; IV, 4.07%, p < 0.001). Pretreatment levels correlated significantly with tumor size (r = 0.372, p < 0.001). Post-treatment blood was collected a median 2.4mo (IQR 1.7-3.9) after therapy completion. Positivity decreased after completing treatment (Table), with 88.4% of cases (46/52) becoming ctDNA negative. All cases with complete treatment had a reduction in biomarker levels, whereas in those with incomplete therapy, 54.5% (12/22) remained positive and the pre- and post-treatment levels were not significantly different. Of those positive after treatment, 13 had a further blood sample: 8 had become ctDNA negative and all but one remained disease free. Five remained positive and all had further suspected or confirmed disease. Conclusions: Levels of methylated BCAT1 and IKZF1 DNA in blood correlated with tumor burden; levels became undetectable in the majority of patients following completion of planned curative intent treatment. The methylated ctDNA blood test aids monitoring of responses to therapy and identification of those cases with residual cancer who might benefit from ongoing therapy.[Table: see text]


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e16101-e16101
Author(s):  
Wending Sun ◽  
Jianwei Zhang ◽  
Jinwang Wei ◽  
Chun Dai ◽  
Jun Liu ◽  
...  

e16101 Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks near the top in tumor-related deaths. Its standard-of-care is surgical resection plus adjuvant chemotherapy, which can extend patient’s live and disease-free survival for up to several years. However, choosing an appropriate chemotherapy agent is difficult because CRC is a heterogenous disease. It is believed that molecular stratification can help to improve treatment accuracy and this has been proven by the consensus molecular subtypes (CMS) classification. However, the CMS classification relies on expensive and complex gene-expression profiling, and more cumbersomely, is limited to early stage patients without prior chemotherapy, radiation and metastasis. This situation denies many CRC patients from the benefit of CMS classification. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is a minimally invasive way to monitor disease progression and treatment response in solid tumors but its clinical utility in CRC remains to be validated. We explore the potential of using patient’s fingerprint ctDNA (defined below) as a stratifying factor in CRC patients to assist clinical decision. Methods: WES is performed on tumor and matched blood samples from 149 CRC patients. Based on the WES result, 20-30 tumor specific genes are selected for each patient and form their ctDNA fingerprints. The patients are grouped according to their level of fingerprint ctDNA (high- vs. low-ctDNA). Results: The two groups of patients show significant difference in treatment responses and mutational profiles. The low-ctDNA group in general respond to treatment well and have good prognosis. The high-ctDNA group, in contrast, often experience relapse or recurrence. Interestingly, the low-ctDNA group is dominated by point and small indel mutations in the top mutated genes while the high-ctDNA group is dominated by gene copy variations (CNV). SMAD4 deficit and DCC amplification are well known CNV in CRC, but they only appear in the high-ctDNA group. Similarly, CNV of AGO2, ACTG1, MYC, and BRD3 are only associated with the high-ctDNA group but not the low-ctDNA group. Conclusions: Our result indicates a strong correlation of fingerprint ctDNA level to both tumor mutational profile and prognosis. This suggests fingerprint ctDNA level may be used as an effective stratifying factor in CRC. At the same time, possibly a common molecular cause is driving persistent ctDNA production in CRC patients, including a large portion of them who have received surgical and adjuvant chemotherapy. Further perspective study, however, is needed to test whether fingerprint ctDNA can be a predictive biomarker.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Qiu ◽  
Wei Guo ◽  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Fang Lv ◽  
Ying Ji ◽  
...  

AbstractAccurately evaluating minimal residual disease (MRD) could facilitate early intervention and personalized adjuvant therapies. Here, using ultradeep targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS), we evaluate the clinical utility of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) for dynamic recurrence risk and adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) benefit prediction in resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Both postsurgical and post-ACT ctDNA positivity are significantly associated with worse recurrence-free survival. In stage II-III patients, the postsurgical ctDNA positive group benefit from ACT, while ctDNA negative patients have a low risk of relapse regardless of whether or not ACT is administered. During disease surveillance, ctDNA positivity precedes radiological recurrence by a median of 88 days. Using joint modeling of longitudinal ctDNA analysis and time-to-recurrence, we accurately predict patients’ postsurgical 12-month and 15-month recurrence status. Our findings reveal longitudinal ctDNA analysis as a promising tool to detect MRD in NSCLC, and we show pioneering work of using postsurgical ctDNA status to guide ACT and applying joint modeling to dynamically predict recurrence risk, although the results need to be further confirmed in future studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (10) ◽  
pp. 030006052095880
Author(s):  
Jianping Wu ◽  
Sulai Liu ◽  
Xiaoming Chen ◽  
Hongfei Xu ◽  
Yaoping Tang

Objective Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common cancer worldwide. Patient outcomes following recurrence of CRC are very poor. Therefore, identifying the risk of CRC recurrence at an early stage would improve patient care. Accumulating evidence shows that autophagy plays an active role in tumorigenesis, recurrence, and metastasis. Methods We used machine learning algorithms and two regression models, univariable Cox proportion and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), to identify 26 autophagy-related genes (ARGs) related to CRC recurrence. Results By functional annotation, these ARGs were shown to be enriched in necroptosis and apoptosis pathways. Protein–protein interactions identified SQSTM1, CASP8, HSP80AB1, FADD, and MAPK9 as core genes in CRC autophagy. Of 26 ARGs, BAX and PARP1 were regarded as having the most significant predictive ability of CRC recurrence, with prediction accuracy of 71.1%. Conclusion These results shed light on prediction of CRC recurrence by ARGs. Stratification of patients into recurrence risk groups by testing ARGs would be a valuable tool for early detection of CRC recurrence.


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