Circulating Tumor DNA Test May Help Predict Melanoma Recurrence
Source: Genetic Engineering & Biote News, April 2025
A study led by scientists at NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center has shown that monitoring blood levels of DNA fragments shed by dying tumor cells may accurately predict skin cancer recurrence. The team’s research, involving adult melanoma patients in a Phase III clinical trial (COMBI-AD) found that approximately 80% of stage III melanoma patients who had detectable levels of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) before they started treatment to suppress their tumors went on to experience recurrence.
This ctDNA method works by focusing on the most common mutations in the genetic code in melanoma cells. The mutated DNA spills into the surrounding blood as the cells break down. The team’s study results also indicated that the disease returned more than four times faster in this group of individuals than in those with no detectable levels of the biomarker, and that the higher their levels, the faster the cancer returned.
“Our findings suggest that circulating tumor DNA tests could help oncologists identify which melanoma patients are most likely to respond well to therapy,” said Mahrukh Syeda, a research scientist in the Ronald O. Perlman Department of Dermatology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. “In the future, such assessments may be used routinely in the clinic to help guide treatment decisions.”