Comprehensive molecular characterization of cfDNA as predictive and monitoring biomarkers in advanced gastric cancer receiving immunotherapy
A blood-based cancer marker better predicted immunotherapy response in stomach cancer than standard tissue tests, offering a practical liquid biopsy for treatment planning.
In 94 advanced gastric cancer patients receiving immunotherapy, a single pretreatment cfDNA methylation marker at chromosome 20 outperformed PD-L1 combined positive score for predicting response (AUC 0.79-0.81 vs 0.72-0.75 for combined models). On-treatment monitoring identified methylation changes at chr8 loci predictive of improved progression-free survival, demonstrating cfDNA as a practical liquid biopsy approach for immunotherapy management in gastric cancer.
What the study was
- Study design
- Prospective discovery + internal validation cohort
- Population
- Advanced gastric cancer patients receiving combination immunotherapy
- Sample size
- 94
- Category
- Diagnostics
- Maturity
- Exploratory
- Journal
- Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
Why it surfaced
cfDNA methylation outperforms PD-L1 CPS for gastric cancer immunotherapy response prediction; small n=94 but prospective design with validation cohort.
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