TOPLINE:
Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) measurements of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) identify patients with stage III melanoma who are at high risk for early recurrence during adjuvant targeted therapy. The blood-based biomarker outperforms traditional prognostic indicators including tumor mutational burden and interferon gamma gene expression.
METHODOLOGY:
- Cell-free ctDNA is an established measure of minimal residual disease but has not been utilized in melanoma management.
- Researchers utilized analytically validated mutation-specific droplet digital PCR assays to measure BRAF V600E or BRAF V600K ctDNA in patients aged ≥ 18 years enrolled in the COMBI-AD trial.
- A total of 597 of 870 patients (331 men, 266 women) had baseline plasma samples available, with follow-up samples collected from 118…