Monitoring melanoma recurrence with circulating tumor DNA: a proof of concept from three case studies.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A significant number of melanoma patients experience recurrence to distant sites, despite having had surgical treatment of the primary lesion, with curative intent. Monitoring of patients for early evidence of disease recurrence would significantly improve management of the disease, allowing timely therapeutic intervention. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is becoming a well-recognized biomarker for monitoring malignancies and has, in a few studies, been shown to signify disease recurrence earlier than conventional methods.

Methods

We performed a retrospective analysis of plasma ctDNA using droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) in 30 primary melanoma patients with tumors harboring BRAF, NRAS or TERT promoter mutations. Mutant specific ctDNA, measured during clinical disease co

SUBMITTER: McEvoy AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6349444 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature