Circulating tumor DNA in peripheral blood may predict the efficacy of immune-targeted therapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma - 19/06/25
Highlights |
• | Decrease in mean VAF (VAFmean) post-treatment correlated with longer progression-free survival. |
• | VAFmean reduction showed high sensitivity (1.0) and specificity (0.8125) in predicting partial remission, outperforming serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels. |
• | CtDNA analysis enables real-time monitoring of HCC dynamics, offering a valuable tool for optimizing treatment strategies and improving patient outcomes. |
Abstract |
Background & Aims |
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly prevalent and fatal malignancy globally. Accurate prognosis prediction is crucial for developing personalized therapeutic strategies.
Methods |
This study involved 28 HCC patients who received immune-targeted therapy at the Xiamen Branch of Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University from April 2020 to June 2022. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) was conducted at baseline and after two treatment cycles. The primary objective was to investigate the relationship between changes in variation allele frequency (VAF) during therapy and clinical outcomes.
Results |
A total of 134 single nucleotide variants, 1 insertion-deletion mutation, and 5 copy number variations were detected across the cohort. A decrease in mean VAF (VAFmean) after two cycles of immune-targeted therapy was associated with longer progression-free survival. The sensitivity and specificity of VAFmean reduction in predicting partial response(PR) and complete response(CR) were 1.0 and 0.8125, respectively, which were higher than those of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels (0.9167 and 0.4667). No significant correlation was observed between baseline mutation status and the efficacy of immune-targeted therapy.
Conclusions |
This study highlights that advanced ctDNA analysis can detect somatic mutations in a substantial proportion of patients with advanced HCC. Monitoring ctDNA dynamics during immune-targeted therapy enables real-time assessment of disease status and provides a basis for optimizing treatment strategies.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : Hepatocellular carcinoma, Circulating tumor DNA, Immune-targeted therapy, Variation allele frequency
Abbreviations : HCC, ctDNA, OS, PFS, VAF, cfDNA, AFP, ECOG, mRECIST, CNV, DCP, PPV, NPV, ORR, DCR, PD, SD, PR, CR, ICIs
Plan
Vol 49 - N° 7
Article 102632- juillet 2025 Retour au numéro
Article précédent
- Glucocorticoids accelerate the reduction of disease severity and biochemical parameters in drug-induced liver injury: Assess the causal relationship using the updated RUCAM scale
- Punan Wang, Guanya Guo, Shuangshuang Jiang, Dawei Ding, Jiaqi Yang, Yi Lu, Ying Han, Xinmin Zhou
- Metabolic factors drive early increase in hepatic steatosis despite improvement in non-invasive fibrosis markers after hepatitis C eradication with direct-acting antivirals
- Mohamed Shengir, Wesal Elgretli, Felice Cinque, Agnihotram V. Ramanakumar, Rosa Lombardi, Annalisa Cespiati, Anna Ludovica Fracanzani, Luz Ballesteros, Marc Deschenes, Philip Wong, Tianyan Chen, Giada Sebastiani
Bienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
L’accès au texte intégral de cet article nécessite un abonnement.
Déjà abonné à cette revue ?