{"title":"Clinical Utility of Tumor-Naïve Presurgical Circulating Tumor DNA Detection in Early-Stage NSCLC","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.jtho.2024.07.002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>The use of tumor-informed circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing in patients with early-stage disease before surgery is limited, mainly owing to restricted tissue access and extended turnaround times. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical value of a tumor-naïve, methylation-based cell-free DNA assay in a large cohort of patients with resected NSCLC.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>We analyzed presurgical plasma samples from 895 patients with <em>EGFR</em> and anaplastic lymphoma kinase-wild-type, clinical stage I or II NSCLC. The ctDNA status was evaluated for its prognostic significance in relation to tumor volume, metabolic activity, histologic diagnosis, histologic subtypes, and clinical-to-pathologic TNM upstaging.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Presurgical ctDNA detection was observed in 55 of 414 patients (13%) with clinical stage I lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and was associated with poor recurrence-free survival (2-year recurrence-free survival 69% versus 91%; log-rank <em>p</em> < 0.001), approaching that of clinical stage II LUAD. Presurgical ctDNA detection was not prognostic in patients with clinical stage II LUAD or non-LUAD. Within LUAD, tumor volume and positron emission tomography avidity interacted to predict presurgical ctDNA detection. Moreover, presurgical ctDNA detection was predictive of the postsurgical discovery of International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer grade 3 tumors (<em>p</em> < 0.001) and pathologic TNM upstaging (<em>p</em> < 0.001). Notably, presurgical ctDNA detection strongly correlated with higher programmed death-ligand 1 expression in tumors (positive rates 28% versus 55%, <em>p</em> < 0.001), identifying a subgroup likely to benefit from anti–programmed death-ligand 1 therapies.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>These findings support the integration of ctDNA testing into routine diagnostic workflows in early-stage NSCLC without the need for tumor tissue profiling. Furthermore, it is clinically useful in identifying patients at high risk who might benefit from innovative treatments, including neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17515,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Thoracic Oncology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":21.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Thoracic Oncology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S155608642400666X","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ONCOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives
The use of tumor-informed circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing in patients with early-stage disease before surgery is limited, mainly owing to restricted tissue access and extended turnaround times. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical value of a tumor-naïve, methylation-based cell-free DNA assay in a large cohort of patients with resected NSCLC.
Method
We analyzed presurgical plasma samples from 895 patients with EGFR and anaplastic lymphoma kinase-wild-type, clinical stage I or II NSCLC. The ctDNA status was evaluated for its prognostic significance in relation to tumor volume, metabolic activity, histologic diagnosis, histologic subtypes, and clinical-to-pathologic TNM upstaging.
Results
Presurgical ctDNA detection was observed in 55 of 414 patients (13%) with clinical stage I lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and was associated with poor recurrence-free survival (2-year recurrence-free survival 69% versus 91%; log-rank p < 0.001), approaching that of clinical stage II LUAD. Presurgical ctDNA detection was not prognostic in patients with clinical stage II LUAD or non-LUAD. Within LUAD, tumor volume and positron emission tomography avidity interacted to predict presurgical ctDNA detection. Moreover, presurgical ctDNA detection was predictive of the postsurgical discovery of International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer grade 3 tumors (p < 0.001) and pathologic TNM upstaging (p < 0.001). Notably, presurgical ctDNA detection strongly correlated with higher programmed death-ligand 1 expression in tumors (positive rates 28% versus 55%, p < 0.001), identifying a subgroup likely to benefit from anti–programmed death-ligand 1 therapies.
Conclusion
These findings support the integration of ctDNA testing into routine diagnostic workflows in early-stage NSCLC without the need for tumor tissue profiling. Furthermore, it is clinically useful in identifying patients at high risk who might benefit from innovative treatments, including neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO), the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer,is the primary educational and informational publication for topics relevant to the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of all thoracic malignancies.The readship includes epidemiologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, thoracic surgeons, pulmonologists, radiologists, pathologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and research scientists with a special interest in thoracic oncology.