Early Assessment of Lung Cancer Immunotherapy Response via Circulating Tumor DNA.

ABSTRACT: Purpose: Decisions to continue or suspend therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors are commonly guided by tumor dynamics seen on serial imaging. However, immunotherapy responses are uniquely challenging to interpret because tumors often shrink slowly or can appear transiently enlarged due to inflammation. We hypothesized that monitoring tumor cell death in real time by quantifying changes in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels could enable early assessment of immunotherapy efficacy.Experimental Design: We compared longitudinal changes in ctDNA levels with changes in radiographic tumor size and with survival outcomes in 28 patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. CtDNA was quantified by determining the allele

SUBMITTER: Goldberg SB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5899677 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature