Liquid BIOpsy for MiNimal RESidual DiSease Detection in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (LIONESS)—a personalised circulating tumour DNA analysis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Autor: Susanne Flach, Karen Howarth, Sophie Hackinger, Christodoulos Pipinikas, Pete Ellis, Kirsten McLay, Giovanni Marsico, Tim Forshew, Christoph Walz, Christoph A. Reichel, Olivier Gires, Martin Canis, Philipp Baumeister
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Br. J. Cancer 126, 1186–1195 (2022)
ISSN: 1532-1827
0007-0920
Popis: Background Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remain a substantial burden to global health. Cell-free circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) is an emerging biomarker but has not been studied sufficiently in HNSCC. Methods We conducted a single-centre prospective cohort study to investigate ctDNA in patients with p16-negative HNSCC who received curative-intent primary surgical treatment. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumour tissue. We utilised RaDaRTM, a highly sensitive personalised assay using deep sequencing for tumour-specific variants, to analyse serial pre- and post-operative plasma samples for evidence of minimal residual disease and recurrence. Results In 17 patients analysed, personalised panels were designed to detect 34 to 52 somatic variants. Data show ctDNA detection in baseline samples taken prior to surgery in 17 of 17 patients. In post-surgery samples, ctDNA could be detected at levels as low as 0.0006% variant allele frequency. In all cases with clinical recurrence to date, ctDNA was detected prior to progression, with lead times ranging from 108 to 253 days. Conclusions This study illustrates the potential of ctDNA as a biomarker for detecting minimal residual disease and recurrence in HNSCC and demonstrates the feasibility of personalised ctDNA assays for the detection of disease prior to clinical recurrence.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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