Minimal Residual Disease Detection using a Plasma-only Circulating Tumor DNA Assay in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

PURPOSE: Detection of persistent circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) after curative-intent surgery can identify patients with minimal residual disease (MRD) who will ultimately recur. Most ctDNA MRD assays require tumor sequencing to identify tumor-derived mutations to facilitate ctDNA detection, requiring tumor and blood. We evaluated a plasma-only ctDNA assay integrating genomic and epigenomic cancer signatures to enable tumor-uninformed MRD detection. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: A total of 252 prospective serial plasma specimens from 103 patients with colorectal cancer undergoing curative-intent surgery were analyzed and correlated with recurrence. RESULTS: = 0.18); PPV = 53.9%]. CONCLUSIONS: .