NEW YORK – A University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center research team has demonstrated that a liquid biopsy panel comprised of 70 genes can quickly identify genetic alterations in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) that are associated with solid tumors.
The investigators retrospectively tested their 70-gene liquid biopsy panel, called LBP-70, on samples from 1,243 pan-cancer solid tumor cases with available electronic medical record data. Their findings, published in JCO Clinical Oncology on Wednesday, suggested that the liquid biopsy strategy successfully identified most cancer cases with a turnaround time of one week, on average — shorter than conventional and more invasive biopsy-based testing.
"The results of this study demonstrated the clinical utility of LBP-70 in identifying clinically informative findings," senior and corresponding author Keyur Patel, a researcher in the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's pathology and laboratory medicine division, and colleagues wrote, calling LBP-70 "an alternative to tissue-based tumor genotyping" that "provides a more rapid method for detecting actionable genetic alterations."
Overall, the approach was able to detect 67 percent to 85 percent of solid tumors present in participants, depending on the cancer type. The researchers also saw variable cancer detection based on the tumor stage, ranging from 60 percent to 77 percent.
The team also looked at the possibility of using the LBP-70 liquid biopsy approach to find genetic alterations with potential treatment selection or management implications in individuals with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or colorectal cancer (CRC). They picked up informative EGFR mutations in more than one-fifth of NSLC cases, while uncovering targetable RAS or BRAF V600E mutations in some 44 percent of individuals with CRC.
Compared with other data types available for the patients, meanwhile, the investigators saw 79 percent concordance with radiologic findings and 62 percent with tissue genotyping profiles.
Together, the findings suggested that LPB-70 "is an alternative to tissue-based genotyping and provides a more rapid method for detecting actionable genetic alterations," the authors wrote.