The Use of Circulating Tumor DNA to Monitor and Predict Response to Treatment in Colorectal Cancer.

ABSTRACT: Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide and has a high mortality rate following disease recurrence. Treatment efficacy is maximized by providing tailored cancer treatment, ideally involving surgical resection and personalized neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and increasingly, targeted therapy. Early detection of recurrence or disease progression results in more treatable disease and is essential to improving survival outcomes. Recent advances in the understanding of tumor genetics have resulted in the discovery of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). A growing body of evidence supports the use of these sensitive biomarkers in detecting residual disease and diagnosing recurrence as well as enabling targeted and tumor-specif

SUBMITTER: Reece M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6881479 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature