medwireNews: Digital next-generation sequencing (NGS) of circulating tumor (ct)DNA is a clinically useful option for advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients with insufficient tumor biopsy samples, say researchers.
They drew on a cohort of 93 patients from 12 Spanish institutions without sufficient tissue for genotyping, and found that 89% had detectable levels of ctDNA. Fifty-three (57%) individuals had potentially actionable genomic alterations, while 13 (14%) harbored alterations for which therapies approved by the US FDA or clinical practice guidelines were available.
ctDNA results were available at a median of 13 days from when the blood sample was obtained, and resulted in “timely initiation of genotype-matched therapies” in 12 patients, report Pilar Garrido (Hospital Universitario Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain) and colleagues. The remaining patient experienced rapid clinical deterioration and was unable to receive targeted treatment.
“These results complement the findings from other studies using plasma-based NGS in patients with lung cancer, adding now further evidence to its utility to impact clinical care in a prospective, multicenter and clinically unselected cohort of patients without tumor tissue for molecular analysis,” the team concludes in the Annals of Oncology.
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