ctDNA Monitoring Can Predict Early Melanoma Recurrence Following Resection
Source: AJMC, May 2025
Data come from patients with stage 3 melanoma enrolled in a phase 3 randomized trial and showed that detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) prior to adjuvant systemic therapy can predict risk of early recurrence.
Checking for sparse levels of disease through circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) after surgery can help identify a high risk of skin cancer recurrence, according to data on patients enrolled in a late-stage study.1 The insights were recently published in Lancet Oncology, showing that using droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) to identify minimal residual disease (MRD) prior to adjuvant targeted therapy can reliably predict a high risk of early recurrence.
ctDNA has been established as a reliable identifier of MRD in various cancer types, and monitoring ctDNA has shown value for planning adjuvant treatment escalation or de-escalation, though comparable data in melanoma remain limited. These new findings, the researchers explained, come from the largest analysis of its kind and complement those from previous published studies on other solid tumors.