Non‐Invasive Tumor‐Naïve Minimal Residual Disease Detection of Liver Cancer by Incorporating Circulating Tumor DNA Features and Alpha‐Fetoprotein: A Prospective Study

• Published in: Cancer medicine (Malden, MA) MA), 2024-12, Vol.13 (24), p.e70511-n/a
• Main Authors: Ren, Qingqi, Li, Shiyong, Zhong, Guolin, Li, Yunfei, Huang, Dao‐Ling, Zhang, Liangliang, Feng, Yumin, Long, Guanghui, Mao, Mao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; AFP; Aged; alpha-Fetoproteins - analysis; alpha-Fetoproteins - metabolism; Biomarkers, Tumor - blood; Cholangiocarcinoma; Circulating Tumor DNA - blood; Circulating Tumor DNA - genetics; CNA; Copy number; Demographics; DNA Copy Number Variations; Female; fragment size; Genomes; Hepatitis B; Humans; Liver cancer; Liver diseases; Liver Neoplasms - blood; Liver Neoplasms - diagnosis; Liver Neoplasms - genetics; Liver Neoplasms - mortality; Liver Neoplasms - surgery; Male; Medical prognosis; Middle Aged; Minimal residual disease; Mortality; MRD; Neoplasm, Residual; Patients; Peripheral blood; Plasma; Prognosis; Prospective Studies; Statistical analysis; Surgery; Survival; Survival analysis; sWGS; Tumor markers; Tumors
• ISSN: 2045-7634; 2045-7634
• DOI: 10.1002/cam4.70511

ABSTRACT Background and Purpose Liver cancer has a high recurrence rate of 50%~70% for early‐stage patients. Minimal residual disease (MRD) is strongly linked to liver cancer early recurrence. Identifying MRD through reliable prognostic biomarkers, such as circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), could significantly benefit these patients by enabling timely intervention and improved outcomes. Materials and Methods A prospective study enrolled 32 liver cancer patients undergoing radical surgery. Peripheral blood samples (8 mL) were collected before and after surgery. In this study, we expanded upon our previously developed multi‐omics assay, initially designed for liver cancer early detection by calculating a cancer signal score (PHCC), to determine the MRD status (named SeekInCure). This process integrated protein tumor marker alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) and cancer genomic hallmarks, copy number aberration (CNA) and fragment size (FS). Results Of the enrolled patients, 78.1% were in early stages, and before surgery, 87.5% of patients had successfully detected the cancer signal in blood. After radical surgery, 23 patients were MRD‐negative, exhibiting better overall survival compared to the MRD‐positive patients (n = 9, p