Institut für Hämatopathologie Hamburg

Clinical Evidence for ctDNA-Based MRD Testing

Clinical evidence has demonstrated the value of ctDNA-based minimal residual disease (MRD) testing across multiple cancer types. Tumor-informed ctDNA approaches have been evaluated in interventional and observational studies and are increasingly used in clinical research.

Key clinical studies

DYNAMIC trial

The DYNAMIC trial was the first interventional study to demonstrate that ctDNA-guided treatment decisions can inform adjuvant therapy in colorectal cancer, with outcomes validated after long-term follow-up.

Multiple studies by Tie et al. and others have evaluated tumor-informed ctDNA approaches for MRD detection, recurrence monitoring, and treatment response assessment across different tumor entities.

Reviews and methodological publications

Several review articles have discussed methodological aspects of tumor-informed and tumor-agnostic ctDNA MRD testing, including sensitivity, specificity, and limitations related to biological background signals such as clonal hematopoiesis.

Interpretation

Together, these studies support the clinical relevance of tumor-informed ctDNA MRD testing for ultra-sensitive disease monitoring in selected clinical contexts.

Learn more

Learn more about tumor-informed MRD testing approaches.

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