Case report demonstrates how ctDNA monitoring personalizes immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer, indicating potential improvements in treatment outcomes.
Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most lethal malignancies, with limited integration of precision oncology into routine clinical care. We present a unique case of a RAS wild-type, MSI-H, TMB-H pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma harboring a TPM3-NTRK1 fusion, monitored through 13 serial liquid biopsies over 3 years. Dynamic changes in NTRK1-fusion allele frequency, tumor mutational burden, and the emergence of an NTRK1 resistance mutation guided finely tuned, situation-adapted therapeutic adjustments: rapid disease control with targeted NTRK inhibition followed by durable remission under immune checkpoint blockade. This case highlights the power of comprehensive molecular profiling and high-frequency ctDNA monitoring to capture tumor evolution and minimal residual disease. Importantly, it further demonstrates how MRD-guided surveillance enables a precise balance between fast-acting targeted therapy and the sustained effects of immunotherapy, providing a blueprint for individualized, context- driven treatment strategies in rare molecular subtypes of pancreatic cancer.
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Rohlfing et al. (2026) studied this question.
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