Baseline circulating tumor DNA predicts long-term survival outcomes for patients with early breast cancer

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Molecular Diagnostics
• Genomics

Background:

• Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) shows promise for monitoring treatment and detecting disease recurrence.
• The predictive value of baseline ctDNA for early breast cancer prognosis remains unclear.
• Early breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis are critical for effective treatment strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the predictive value of baseline ctDNA for prognosis in early breast cancer patients.
• To determine if ctDNA detection at diagnosis can forecast patient outcomes.
• To investigate the association between baseline ctDNA levels and survival in early breast cancer.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 90 early breast cancer patients and 24 healthy controls.
• Collected peripheral blood samples at diagnosis before any treatment.
• Utilized targeted deep sequencing with a 1,021 cancer-gene NGS panel to detect ctDNA.

Main Results:

• ctDNA was detected in 67.9% of invasive breast cancer patients, but not in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
• High-level ctDNA in invasive breast cancer patients correlated with significantly lower recurrence-free survival (P=0.0036).
• No ctDNA was detected in patients with DCIS.

Conclusions:

• Baseline ctDNA may serve as a prognostic biomarker for early breast cancer.
• Further large-scale studies are needed to validate these findings.
• ctDNA detection at diagnosis could aid in risk stratification for early breast cancer.