Post-radiation circulating tumor DNA as a prognostic factor in locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Post-radiation circulating tumor DNA as a prognostic factor in locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Oncol Lett. 2021 Jan;21(1):68 Authors: Jia R, Zhao CH, Li PS, Liu RR, Zhang Y, Chen HE, Chang LP, Gong YH, Guan YF, Yi X, Xu JM Abstract Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a highly malignant and deadly tumor. Radiation therapy is one of the primary treatments for locally advanced ESCC. However, the biomarkers for prognosis of definitive radiation remain undefined. Peripheral blood circulating tumor (ct)DNA provides information of tumor genetic alterations and has been confirmed as a potential non-invasive biomarker for several types of cancer. The present study investigated the clinical implications of ctDNA detection in patients with ESCC and receiving definitive radiation therapy. Patients with locally advanced ESCC were retrospectively recruited. Plasma samples were collected before, during and following radiation therapy. Next-generation sequencing was performed to identify somatic mutations in 180 genes. A total of 69 baseline and post-radiation plasma samples were collected from 25 patients. A total of 59 non-silent single nucleotide variants were present in 33 genes. All pre-radiation and 58.3% (14/24) of post-radiation samples had at least one mutation. Patients with lymph node metastases (LNM) exhibited a higher number of pre-radiation mutations compared with those without LNM. The variables, progress...
Source: Oncology Letters - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Oncol Lett Source Type: research