Abstract

Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) represents a promising biomarker for sensitive, specific, and dynamic detection of disease burden in lung cancer patients. Mutations in tumour-derived DNA represent ideal potential biomarkers since they are highly specific to tumour cells and involved in disease pathogenesis. However, even in advanced cancer patients, concentrations of ctDNA can be low and difficult to detect. We have developed an ultra-sensitive and specific method for detection of circulating tumor DNA called Cancer Personalized Profiling by Deep Sequencing (CAPP-Seq). This method is broadly applicable to all cancer types and detects all major classes of somatic alterations. In this presentation I will describe clinical applications of ctDNA analysis in a variety of clinical contexts, with a focus on non-small cell lung cancer.