Ultra-sensitive detection of mutant KRAS in circulating tumor DNA predicts survival in resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma
Ultra-sensitive blood testing catches more actionable mutations in early pancreatic cancer, identifying high-risk patients who might benefit from stronger treatment before surgery.
Ultra-deep KRAS sequencing of ctDNA at ≥100,000x depth identified 46% more actionable mutations in early-stage pancreatic cancer compared to standard methods, and was the only approach that significantly predicted overall survival (HR 3.13) in this difficult-to-detect cancer. This technique may enable earlier identification of high-risk localized PDAC patients who could benefit from treatment intensification before or after surgery.
What the study was
- Study design
- Prospective single-center translational cohort
- Population
- Patients with non-metastatic (resectable/borderline resectable) pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) prior to treatment
- Sample size
- 45
- Category
- Early Detection
- Maturity
- Exploratory
- Journal
- Frontiers in Oncology
Why it surfaced
EARLY_CANCER_DETECTION flag triggers HIGH priority; ultra-deep liquid biopsy for one of the hardest-to-detect cancers (PDAC 5-year survival ~12%); 46% detection gain over standard method; OS prediction HR 3.13 is clinically meaningful; Northwestern University group, PMC open access.
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