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Background: Analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in plasma is a powerful approach to guide decisions in personalized cancer treatment. Given the low concentration of ctDNA in plasma, highly sensitive methods are required to reliably identify clinically relevant variants.
Methods: We evaluated the suitability of 5 droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assays targeting KRAS, BRAF, and EGFR variants for ctDNA analysis in clinical use.
Results: We investigated assay performance characteristics for very low amounts of variants, showing that the assays had very low limits of blank (0% to 0.11% variant allele frequency, VAF) and limits of quantification (0.41% to 0.7% VAF). Nevertheless, striking differences in detection and quantification of low mutant VAFs between the 5 tested assays were observed, highlighting the need for assay-specific analytical validation. Besides in-depth evaluation, a guide for clinical interpretation of obtained VAFs in plasma was developed, depending on the limits of blank and limits of quantification values.
Conclusion: It is possible to provide comprehensive clinical reports on actionable variants, allowing minimal residual disease detection and treatment monitoring in liquid biopsy.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/clinchem/hvab124 | DOI Listing |
Med
September 2025
Department of General Surgery, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730030, China; Gansu Province Key Laboratory of Biological Therapy and Regenerative Medicine Transformation, Lanzhou, Gansu 730030, China. Electronic address:
Background: Early diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) remains challenging, but liquid biopsy is emerging as a promising detection strategy. Here, we identified a novel bile biomarker for CCA and developed an optic fiber biosensor integrated with digestive endoscopy for real-time diagnosis in vivo.
Methods: A total of 583 subjects and two proteomic analyses were used to screen and validate biomarkers for CCA, and then the corresponding antibodies were generated to construct a surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based optic fiber biosensor.
J Natl Cancer Inst
September 2025
Associate Director Laboratory for Molecular Pediatric Pathology (LaMPP), Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02115, MA, USA.
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has transformed cancer care by providing essential insights for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. However, variability in testing timing, reporting practices, and interpretation challenges limits its clinical impact. This manuscript highlights key opportunities to optimize somatic reporting, emphasizing the importance of timely testing throughout the cancer care continuum to maximize the diagnostic and therapeutic relevance of findings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Clin Oncol
September 2025
Servicio de Oncología Médica HM CIOCC, Hospital Universitario HM Sanchinarro, Facultad HM de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad Camilo José Cela, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria HM Hospitales, Madrid, Spain.
Objectives: To evaluate the association between the KRAS mutational load and the histologic tumor response in patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) who received neoadjuvant treatment (NAC) with pegylated liposomal irinotecan in combination with oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and leucovorin (NALIRIFOX).
Methods: This was a multicenter, single-arm, interventional, open-label, phase 2 trial in patients 18 years or older who had histologically or cytologically confirmed PDAC and were candidates for surgery and received neoadjuvant NALIRIFOX. The primary outcome was determination of the association between the KRAS mutational load and the histologic tumor response after chemotherapy.
Biochem Biophys Rep
December 2025
Division of Breast Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, 112, Taiwan.
Purpose: This study aimed to conduct functional proteomics across breast cancer subtypes with bioinformatics analyses.
Methods: Candidate proteins were identified using nanoscale liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (NanoLC-MS/MS) from core needle biopsy samples of early stage (0-III) breast cancers, followed by external validation with public domain gene-expression datasets (TCGA TARGET GTEx and TCGA BRCA).
Results: Seventeen proteins demonstrated significantly differential expression and protein-protein interaction (PPI) found the strong networks including COL2A1, COL11A1, COL6A1, COL6A2, THBS1 and LUM.
J Natl Cancer Inst
September 2025
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Purpose: Early detection of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer (HPV+OPSCC), the most common HPV cancer in the United States, could reduce disease-related morbidity and mortality, yet currently, there are no early detection tests. Circulating tumor HPV DNA (ctHPVDNA) is a sensitive and specific biomarker for HPV+OPSCC at diagnosis. It is unknown if ctHPVDNA is detectable prior to diagnosis, and thus it's potential as an early detection test.
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