The clinical considerations for early cancer detection using ctDNA within the Pacific setting

Abstract

Abstract Pacific Peoples living in Aotearoa/New Zealand and in the Pacific Region, remain disproportionately affected by some cancers. In addition to ensuring effective treatments and therapies are available and continue to improve, continued early cancer diagnostic efforts are also critical for supporting better health outcomes for Pacific Peoples within the cancer setting. A novel and promising early cancer detection method known as circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) analyses small fragments of tumour DNA found in the blood circulation to provide information about a tumour. This approach is more commonly associated with and utilised for monitoring patients being treated for their cancers and is being adapted to support early cancer detection efforts. To support the possible acceptability of this approach for early cancer diagnosis for Pacific Peoples, it is imperative to better understand the clinical considerations relevant to the Pacific setting. To identify the clinical considerations needed for early cancer detection with ctDNA approaches within the Pacific setting for Pacific Peoples living in Aotearoa/New Zealand, researchers and Pacific Health Professionals were consulted. Relevant considerations included the immediate need to support early cancer diagnostic efforts to avoid late presentations, better understanding of the cultural context for Pacific Peoples within the healthcare setting more broadly, with strong support expressed for a simple approach for early cancer detection such as that being proposed with ctDNA technology. These findings highlight the critical need to consider the clinical context within the cancer setting for Pacific Peoples. Health Research Council of New Zealand