The Potential Role of Circulating Tumor DNA as a Tool in the Management of Gastrointestinal Malignancies

The technology of assessing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is rapidly changing the management of gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies. This has implications for cancer screening, molecular characterization, treatment response assessment, and disease status; with the latter instance often applied to the assessment of minimal/molecular residual disease. While much of the data to date has been in colorectal cancer, there is emerging data in pancreatic, esophagogastric, and hepatobiliary malignancies. In this review, we discuss the landscape of ctDNA research across GI cancers with a focus on implications for current practice.