Stenzl - Figure 40
Molecular Characterization of Advanced Disease: Cell-free DNA
FIG. 40: A group at Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen,[26] has shown that with next generation sequencing of cell-free DNA, some genomic aberrations are apparent in metastatic urothelial carcinoma. With this method it is possible to see the difference in variant allele frequency between the TURB specimen pre- and post-chemotherapy. In some patients on neoadjuvant chemotherapy, for example, there was a dramatic decrease in variant allele frequency and DNA fraction, which is promising in that it may be possible to monitor during systemic therapy when the patient is responding (at least for some patients) and even to prognosticate when it might be possible to stop chemotherapy, a step that, as we know, can be quite toxic.
References
Todenhöfer T, Vandekerkhove G, Struss W, Using liquid biopsy to assess the genomic landscape of metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Eur Urol Suppl. 2017; 16(3);e677 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1569-9056(17)30449-9
