Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Apr;73(4):535-540.
doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2017.09.011. Epub 2017 Sep 27.

Monitoring Treatment Response and Metastatic Relapse in Advanced Bladder Cancer by Liquid Biopsy Analysis

Karin Birkenkamp-Demtröder  1 , Emil Christensen  2 , Iver Nordentoft  2 , Michael Knudsen  3 , Ann Taber  2 , Søren Høyer  4 , Philippe Lamy  2 , Mads Agerbæk  5 , Jørgen Bjerggaard Jensen  6 , Lars Dyrskjøt  7
Affiliations

Monitoring Treatment Response and Metastatic Relapse in Advanced Bladder Cancer by Liquid Biopsy Analysis

Karin Birkenkamp-Demtröder et al. Eur Urol. 2018 Apr.

Abstract

Of the patients undergoing radical cystectomy, 20-80% experience relapse. Minimally invasive methods for early detection of metastatic relapse after cystectomy and for monitoring ongoing therapy are urgently needed to improve individualised follow-up and treatment. Therefore, we evaluated the use of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in plasma and urine to detect metastatic relapse after cystectomy and measure treatment efficacy. We exome sequenced tumour and germline DNA from patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer and monitored ctDNA in 370 liquid biopsies throughout the disease courses by 84 personalised digital droplet polymerase chain reaction assays targeting 61 genes. Patients were prospectively recruited between 2013 and 2017. Patients with metastatic relapse had significantly higher ctDNA levels compared with disease-free patients (p<0.001). The median positive lead time between ctDNA detection in plasma and diagnosis of relapse was 101 d after cystectomy (range 0-932 d). Early detection of metastatic relapse and treatment response using liquid biopsies represents a novel, highly sensitive tool for monitoring patients, supporting clinicians, and guiding treatment decisions.

Patient summary: Measurement of tumour-specific mutations in plasma and urine may be a powerful tool to monitor response during treatment and identify early signs of metastatic disease.

Keywords: Biomarker; Cell-free DNA; Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction; Liquid biopsy; Minimally invasive monitoring; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Personalised analysis; Plasma; Reservoir urine; Treatment response.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms