DCTD Programs
Last Updated: 08/26/2024
ctDNA in Cancer Treatment and Clinical Care
DCTD's Cancer Diagnosis Program hosted a workshop on September 14-15, 2023.
Recordings of the presentations are posted below.
Read the workshop proceedings (Sorg, 2024).
Workshop Goals
This workshop focused on the current landscape and requirements for the future of ctDNA in the treatment and management of solid tumors, and how the scientific community can best assess the value of ctDNA technology.
Workshop Design
More than 30 speakers gave 15-minute presentations on the following topics:
- Statistician and patient perspectives on ctDNA
- ctDNA for management of solid tumors in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings
- ctDNA post-treatment and MRD surveillance of solid tumors
- ctDNA for treatment of metastatic solid tumors
- The challenges of ctDNA as a biomarker
- Applications beyond DNA mutations and blood
- Advances in technology, assays, and clinical translation
Workshop Recordings and Agenda
Day 1 Recording 
Day 2 Recording
Day 1
| Statistician and Patient Perspectives on ctDNA | |
|---|---|
| ctDNA clinical trial designs | Dr. Lisa McShane |
| Patient perspective on ctDNA in treatment management and care | Patty Spears |
| Panel Q&A with Dr. McShane and Patty Spears | |
| ctDNA for Management of Solid Tumors in the Neoadjuvant Setting | |
| Perioperative ctDNA dynamics with hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastases | Dr. Arvind Dasari |
| ctDNA to detect residual disease after neoadjuvant therapy in breast cancer | Dr. Muhammed Murtaza |
| ctDNA in neoadjuvant-treated breast cancer reflects response and survival | Dr. Laura van 't Veer |
| Panel Q&A with Drs. Dasari, Murtaza, and van 't Veer | |
| ctDNA for Management of Solid Tumors in the Adjuvant Setting | |
| ctDNA kinetics predict PFS and OS in EGFR TKI-treated patients with EGFR-Mutant NSCLC | Dr. Philip Mack |
| ctDNA guiding adjuvant therapy in colon cancer | Dr. Yuxuan Wang |
| Plasma ctDNA response is an early marker of treatment effect in advanced NSCLC | Dr. Yanan Kuang |
| Panel Q&A with Drs. Mack, Wang, and Kuang | |
| ctDNA Post-Treatment and MRD Surveillance of Solid Tumors | |
| MRD detection in early stage breast cancer treatment | Dr. Heather Parsons |
| MRD detection using plasma-only ctDNA in patients with colorectal cancer | Dr. Aparna Parikh |
| ctDNA for MRD for treatment monitoring in advanced melanoma patients | Dr. Zeynep Eroglu |
| Panel Q&A with Drs. Parsons, Parikh, and Eroglu | |
| ctDNA for Treatment of Metastatic Solid Tumors | |
| ctDNA serial analysis during progression on PD-1 blockade and later CTLA-4 rescue in patients with mismatch repair deficient metastatic colorectal cancer | Dr. Pashtoon M. Kasi |
| Longitudinal ctDNA-based model associated with survival in metastatic NSCLC | Dr. Katja Schulze |
| Evolution of the genomic landscape of ctDNA in metastatic prostate cancer over treatment and time | Dr. Pedro Barata |
| Panel Q&A with Drs. Kasi, Schulze, and Barata | |
| Challenges of ctDNA as a Biomarker | |
| Biological/technical challenges in collection/analysis of cfDNA | Dr. Abhijit Patel |
| ctDNA pre-analytical variables and best practices for sample collection | Dr. Sarah Greytak |
| Evaluating the analytical validity of ctDNA sequencing assays for precision oncology | Dr. Joshua Xu |
| Economic value of liquid biopsy for genomic profiling in advanced NSCLC | Dr. Doreen A. Ezeife |
| Panel Q&A with Drs. Patel, Greytak, Xu, and Ezeife | |
Day 2
| NCI Funding Initiatives for ctDNA Projects | |
|---|---|
| NOFOs for ctDNA support | Dr. Miguel Ossandon |
| Beyond DNA Mutations and Blood | |
| HBV viral-host junction DNA in urine as a biomarker for HCC MRD and recurrence | Dr. Ying-Hsiu Su |
| ctDNA in saliva for treatment and monitoring | Dr. David Wong |
| Methylated microRNA biomarkers in saliva of head and neck cancer recurrence | Dr. Shi-Long Lu |
| Collection, analysis, and clinical use of ctDNA in CSF | Dr. Alexandra Miller |
| Panel Q&A with Dr. Su, Dr. Wong, Dr. Lu and Dr. Miller | |
| Genomic profiling of bronchoalveolar lavage cfDNA in lung cancer | Dr. Viswam Nair |
| Methylated cfDNA for disease subtyping and prognostics | Dr. Scott Bratman |
| DNA methylation signatures of retinoblastoma using aqueous humor liquid biopsy | Dr. Jesse Berry |
| ctDNA in urine to detect MRD and predict survival in bladder cancer | Dr. Aadel Chaudhuri |
| Panel Q&A with Drs. Nair, Bratman, Berry, and Chaudhuri | |
| Advances in Technology, Assays, and Clinical Translation | |
| Liquid biopsies in support of NCI precision medicine initiatives | Dr. Chris Karlovich |
| Advancing clinical applications for liquid biopsy for FGFR-positive cancers | Dr. Sameek Roychowdhury |
| Regulatory considerations for ctDNA assays | Dr. Liz Mansfield |
| BloodPAC protocols for analytical validation of ctDNA assays | Dr. Jennifer Dickey |
| Panel Q&A with Drs. Karlovich, Roychowdhury, Mansfield, and Dickey | |
For questions about the meeting or to request copies of any of the slide presentations, contact Brian Sorg (brian.sorg@nih.gov) or the Cancer Diagnosis Program (NCICDPNews@mail.nih.gov).