Tumor-informed circulating tumor DNA assay for surveillance post-liver transplantation in patients with hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma

作者：Maen Abdelrahim, Ashton A. Connor, Abdullah Esmail, Ahmed Elaileh, Souha Farhat, Sudha Kodali, David W. Victor, Elizabeth W. Brombosz, Ashish Saharia, Linda W. Moore, R. Mark Ghobrial · 发表于：Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.21037/jgo-24-791 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics、Cholangiocarcinoma and Gallbladder Cancer Studies、Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques

Background: Liver transplantation (LT) for primary liver cancers achieves excellent patient outcomes, but a minority recur with poor prognosis. Survival may be improved by earlier recurrence detection. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and performance of a personalized tumor-informed assay utilizing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from peripheral blood for surveillance after LT in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Methods: Here, we test whether a personalized tumor-informed assay utilizing ctDNA from peripheral blood informs post-LT surveillance. Personalized ctDNA assays were employed for surveillance in 38 LT recipients, alongside standard-of-care imaging and peripheral tumor biomarkers [alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9)]. Results: ). Only 1 patient had ctDNA positive prior to imaging-based diagnosis. Conclusions: This study corroborates the feasibility of ctDNA assays for recurrence surveillance in LT recipients. The results imply that ctDNA assays show promise in confirming recurrence and minimizing the need for invasive biopsy. However, additional prospective studies are needed to confirm ctDNA test utility in surveillance protocols.