Clinical utility of digital PCR (dPCR) in liquid biopsy for the management of cancer

Liquid biopsies used to identify and track genetic mutationsin cancer patinets, enabling researchers to detect cancer early, measure therapeutic response, quantify residual tumor burden, and monitor emerging resistance to therapies. Liquid biopsies utilize cell-free DNA (cfDNA) that is derived from cells, both normal and cancerous, that have undergone apoptosis or necrosis and released their DNA contents into their environment. The component of cfDNA that is released from cancer cells is more commonly referred to as circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA. dPCR has enabled the development of liquid biopsy-based approaches.

 

Join Dr. Atocha Romero in this webinar to learn about the analysis of ctDNA by dPCR, which has several clinical applications:

 

1) ctDNA genotyping can be used for non-invasive biomarker testing, which is especially relevant in lung cancer patients in whom tissue biopsies are difficult to obtain due to the anatomical location of the tumors and the advanced age of the patients. In this sense, ctDNA genotyping may expand the life expectancy of some cancer patients who are unable to undergo an invasive procedure by the identification of therapeutic targets.

 

2) ctDNA levels correlate well with tumor bulk. Therefore, ctDNA quantification over the course of the treatment can be used for narrow tumor response to treatment monitoring, as well as for early detection of resistance mutations.

 

3) ctDNA levels are of prognostic significance as ctDNA levels have been shown to correlate well with survival outcomes. In this sense, ctDNA levels may be used as an early endpoint surrogate in clinical trials.