Abstract IA05: ctDNA and MRD in colorectal cancer: Time to reinvent adjuvant clinical trials

Abstract

Abstract The most substantial opportunity for improving cancer survival outcomes is in the setting of early-stage disease, where evidence indicates that adjuvant chemotherapy can reduce recurrence and prevent cancer-related death through the eradication of minimal residual disease. However, the current stage-based treatment approach lacks precision and has quite a modest survival impact. A powerful prognostic marker could revolutionize adjuvant therapy by (i) better defining the recurrence risk of individual patients and allowing delivery of a more personalized treatment approach and (ii) enriching studies of new therapies with high-risk patients, substantially reducing the size and cost of adjuvant therapy trials. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has emerged as a promising noninvasive biomarker, with the ability to detect minimal residual disease following curative intent treatment in early-stage colorectal cancer. I will discuss the potential clinical utilities of ctDNA in early-stage colorectal cancer, including ongoing biomarker-driven adjuvant randomized trials. Citation Format: Jeanne Tie, Nickolas Papadopoulos, Kenneth Kinzler, Bert Vogelstein, Peter Gibbs. ctDNA and MRD in colorectal cancer: Time to reinvent adjuvant clinical trials [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Liquid Biopsies; Jan 13-16, 2020; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(11_Suppl):Abstract nr IA05.