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This study explored and validated the clinical application of targeted NGS of circulating tumor DNA in identifying tumor-specific mutations and uncovering clinical actionable targets in a variety of solid tumors in large patient cohorts.

Cancer is a disease of genetic alterations. Comprehensive genetic diagnosis is needed to match each patient to appropriate cancer therapy. However, acquisition of representative tumor samples is invasive and often infeasible. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is a promising non-invasive biomarker for cancer mutational profiling. Here we implemented targeted next generation sequencing (NGS) with a customized pan-cancer gene panel on 605 clinical ctDNA samples in multiple cancer types. Overall, tumor-specific mutations were identified in 87% of ctDNA samples, with mutation spectra highly concordant with their matched tumor tissues. 71% of patients have at least one clinical actionable mutation with 76% of which have suggested drugs approved or in clinical trials. In particular, our study reveals a unique mutation spectrum in Chinese lung cancer patients, which could be used to guide treatment decision and monitor the appearance of drug-resistant mutations. Taken together, our study demonstrated the clinical utility of target NGS-based ctDNA mutational profiling to guide cancer treatment decision.

Click on a Dataset ID in the table below to learn more, and to find out who to contact about access to these data

Dataset ID Description Technology Samples
EGAD00001003176 Illumina HiSeq 4000 Illumina MiSeq 1845
Publications Citations
Circulating Tumor DNA Mutation Profiling by Targeted Next Generation Sequencing Provides Guidance for Personalized Treatments in Multiple Cancer Types.
Sci Rep 7: 2017 583
106
Quantitative characterization of tumor cell-free DNA shortening.
BMC Genomics 21: 2020 473
10