NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute (ALCMI) and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have initiated a study to analyze circulating tumor DNA in early-stage lung cancer patients.
Specifically, the institutes will use Inivata's InVision liquid biopsy platform to determine the potential utility of analyzing ctDNA to measure minimal residual disease in patients following surgical resection in non-small cell lung cancer to identify patients in need of further therapy and to explore the value of ctDNA for monitoring relapse.
The LIBERTI (Liquid Biopsy in Early-Stage NSCLC Resected Lung Tumor Investigation) study will recruit up to 500 patients from eight ALCMI member institutions in the US, led by co-principal investigators Ramaswamy Govindan and Daniel Morgensztern of WUSTL. Both doctors treat patients at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University.
The study's primary objective is to correlate the presence of ctDNA following surgical resection with disease recurrence in NSCLC. Additional objectives include exploring the role of ctDNA in the monitoring of patients during and following therapies administered after surgery with a view toward improving long-term outcomes.
LIBERTI will combine "ALCMI's study coordination and management, centralized data and bio-repositories; ALCF's patient input; Inivata's sensitive sequencing and analysis techniques; and the researchers at Washington University," ALCMI Chair and CEO Tony Addario said in a statement. "This group of leaders in the field of lung cancer brought these novel ideas from concept to study launch in rapid time, with a shared goal of improving the survival rates of patients with the world's deadliest cancer."
ALCMI is a patient-centric, international research consortium founded in 2008 as a non-profit organization by lung cancer survivor Bonnie J Addario. Working in tandem with the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, ALCMI powers collaborative initiatives in genetic testing, therapeutic discoveries, targeted treatments, and early detection.