We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

BIO-RAD LABORATORIES

Provides full range of instrumentation, reagent kits, software and quality control systems to clinical laboratories. ... read more Featured Products: More products

Download Mobile App




Minimal Residual Disease Test Predicts Oligometastatic CRC Patient Outcomes

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 06 Aug 2021
Print article
Signatera assay used for the detection of molecular residual disease using personalized circulating tumor DNA assay in patients with colorectal cancer undergoing resection of metastases (Photo courtesy of Natera)
Signatera assay used for the detection of molecular residual disease using personalized circulating tumor DNA assay in patients with colorectal cancer undergoing resection of metastases (Photo courtesy of Natera)
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the USA. Approximately 15%-25% of patients present with metastatic disease upon diagnosis, and approximately 50% of patients with early-stage disease develop metastases.

The current standard of care for CRC involves routine patient checkups, periodic computed tomography scans, and monitoring of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels. Several studies have indicated the clinical utility of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) for Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) assessment, monitoring recurrence, and treatment response in patients with CRC.

Oncologists at the Veneto Institute of Oncology (Padua, Italy) and their associates analyzed a cohort of 112 patients with metastatic CRC (mCRC) who had undergone metastatic resection with curative intent as part of a clinical trial. The study evaluated the prognostic value of ctDNA, correlating MRD status post-surgery with clinical outcomes by using a personalized and tumor-informed ctDNA assay (bespoke multiple PCR, next-generation sequencing assay).

The scientists performed whole-exome sequencing on formalin fixed and paraffin embedded tumor tissue along with matched normal blood samples. On analyzing the sequencing results, a set of 16 patient-specific somatic clonal single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were selected for multiplex PCR (mPCR). The Signatera personalized mPCR next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay (Natera, Austin, TX. USA) was used for detecting minimal or MRD and disease progression in the postsurgical setting for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Samples were also prepared for ddPCR (QX200 ddPCR system; Bio-Rad, Berkeley, CA, USA).

Signatera testing identified 61 patients, a little more than half the cohort, as MRD-positive at either the first testing time point after surgery or a second follow-up test. Of these individuals, nearly 97% went on to have progressive disease despite their treatment. To compare Signatera to ddPCR, the group analyzed a subset of 27 patients with KRAS mutations. Concordance between the approaches was only 55%, with the 12 discordant cases representing instances where Signatera was positive and ddPCR was negative. In addition, among these 12 individuals, 11 developed disease progression, suggesting greater sensitivity and accuracy for the personalized Signatera technology. CEA, a highly studied proteomic cancer biomarker, also failed to predict patient outcomes with statistical significance.

Fotios Loupakis, MD, PhD, an Oncologist and first author of the study, said, “Through this study, we are able to show that a personalized ctDNA test is a sensitive prognostic biomarker that can potentially be used to guide treatment decisions for patients with oligometastatic colorectal cancer.”

The authors concluded that their present work supports the continuous expansion of the number of clinical studies in patients with mCRC using personalized ctDNA-based MRD analysis and provides direct evidence of the predictive and prognostic value of ctDNA, which could help clinicians with real numbers to design their clinical studies and support therapeutic decisions in the adjuvant setting. The study was published on July 21, 2021 in the journal JCO Precision Oncology.

Related Links:

Veneto Institute of Oncology
Natera
Bio-Rad


New
Gold Member
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Test
hCG Quantitative - R012
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
HIV Test
Anti-HIV (1/2) Rapid Test Kit
New
TORCH Infections Test
TORCH Panel

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: The tiny clay-based materials can be customized for a range of medical applications (Photo courtesy of Angira Roy and Sam O’Keefe)

‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection

Thousands of commercially available glowing molecules known as fluorophores are commonly used in medical imaging, disease detection, biomarker tagging, and chemical analysis. They are also integral in... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The lab-in-tube assay could improve TB diagnoses in rural or resource-limited areas (Photo courtesy of Kenny Lass/Tulane University)

Handheld Device Delivers Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the deadliest infectious disease globally, affecting an estimated 10 million people annually. In 2021, about 4.2 million TB cases went undiagnosed or unreported, mainly due to... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The HIV-1 self-testing chip will be capable of selectively detecting HIV in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples

As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.