White blood cell and cell-free DNA analyses for detection of residual disease in gastric cancer

Alessandro Leal, Nicole C.T. van Grieken, Doreen N. Palsgrove, Jillian Phallen, Jamie E. Medina, Carolyn Hruban, Mark A.M. Broeckaert, Valsamo Anagnostou, Vilmos Adleff, Daniel C. Bruhm, Jenna V. Canzoniero, Jacob Fiksel, Marianne Nordsmark, Fabienne A.R.M. Warmerdam, Henk M.W. Verheul, Dick Johan van Spronsen, Laurens V. Beerepoot, Maud M. Geenen, Johanneke E.A. Portielje, Edwin P.M. JansenJohanna van Sandick, Elma Meershoek-Klein Kranenbarg, Hanneke W.M. van Laarhoven, Donald L. van der Peet, Cornelis J.H. van de Velde, Marcel Verheij, Remond Fijneman, Robert B. Scharpf, Gerrit A. Meijer, Annemieke Cats, Victor E. Velculescu

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152 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Liquid biopsies are providing new opportunities for detection of residual disease in cell-free DNA (cfDNA) after surgery but may be confounded through identification of alterations arising from clonal hematopoiesis. Here, we identify circulating tumor-derived DNA (ctDNA) alterations through ultrasensitive targeted sequencing analyses of matched cfDNA and white blood cells from the same patient. We apply this approach to analyze samples from patients in the CRITICS trial, a phase III randomized controlled study of perioperative treatment in patients with operable gastric cancer. After filtering alterations from matched white blood cells, the presence of ctDNA predicts recurrence when analyzed within nine weeks after preoperative treatment and after surgery in patients eligible for multimodal treatment. These analyses provide a facile method for distinguishing ctDNA from other cfDNA alterations and highlight the utility of ctDNA as a predictive biomarker of patient outcome to perioperative cancer therapy and surgical resection in patients with gastric cancer.

Original languageEnglish
Article number525
JournalNature communications
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2020

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