The assessment of circulating cell-free DNA as a diagnostic tool for breast cancer: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of quantitative and qualitative ssays

Liquid biopsy biomarkers in breast cancer: An overview of systematic reviews

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading type of cancer affecting women globally and remains a significant cause of death. The diagnostic accuracy of liquid biopsy (LB) in the diagnosis of BC has not been well established. This overview synthesizes and critically evaluates the diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) of LB biomarkers in individuals with BC. Of 433 systematic reviews, eleven were included, assessing Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cell-free DNA (cfDNA), and microRNAs (miRNAs). The overall methodological quality of most of the reviews included was rated as critically low (n = 9, 81.8 %), and the remaining reviews were ranked as low and moderate. Key findings include CTCs with moderate sensitivity (0.50, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.48-0.52) and high specificity (0.93, 95 % CI: 0.92-0.95) with moderate certainty; cfDNA assays with high sensitivity (0.71-0.86) and specificity (0.88) with high certainty; FTIR assays with high sensitivity (0.97, 95 % CI: 0.94-0.96) and specificity (0.92, 95 % CI: 0.88-0.95) but low certainty. The miRNAs showed moderate to high sensitivity, while miR-21 had high specificity. Our overview indicates that identified liquid biopsies could serve as valuable tools for the diagnosis of breast cancer.

Kinetics of plasma cell-free DNA as a prospective biomarker to predict the prognosis and radiotherapy effect of esophageal cancer

PURPOSE

The lack of reliable biomarkers for the prognosis and radiotherapy efficacy in esophageal cancer (EC) necessitates further research. The aim of our study was to investigate the predictive utility of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) kinetics in patients with EC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data and cfDNA levels (pre-radiotherapy [pre-RT] and post-radiotherapy [post-RT]) and the cfDNA kinetics (cfDNA ratio: post-RT cfDNA/pre-RT cfDNA) of 88 patients. We employed Kaplan-Meier curves to examine the relationship between cfDNA and overall survival (OS) as well as progression-free survival (PFS). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were executed to ascertain the independent risk factors in EC.

RESULTS

The pre-RT cfDNA levels were positively correlated with clinical stage (P=0.001). The pre-RT cfDNA levels (cutoff value=16.915ng/mL), but not the post-RT cfDNA levels, were linked to a diminished OS (P<0.001) and PFS (P=0.0137). CfDNA kinetics (cutoff value=0.883) were positively associated with OS (P=0.0326) and PFS (P=0.0020). Notably, we identified independent risk factors for OS in EC treated with RT, including cfDNA ratio (high/low) (HR=0.447 [0.221-0.914] P=0.025), ECOG (0/1/2) (HR=0.501 [0.285-0.880] p=0.016), and histological type (esophagal squamous cell carcinoma [ESCC]/non-ESCC) (HR=3.973 [1.074-14.692] P=0.039).

CONCLUSION

Plasma cfDNA kinetics is associated with prognosis and radiotherapy effect in EC undergoing RT, suggesting potential clinical application of a cheap and simple blood-based test.

Circulating tumor DNA: from discovery to clinical application in breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) stands out as the cancer with the highest incidence of morbidity and mortality among women worldwide, and its incidence rate is currently trending upwards. Improving the efficiency of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment is crucial, as it can effectively reduce the disease burden. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) originates from the release of tumor cells and plays a pivotal role in the occurrence, development, and metastasis of breast cancer. In recent years, the widespread application of high-throughput analytical technology has made ctDNA a promising biomarker for early cancer detection, monitoring minimal residual disease, early recurrence monitoring, and predicting treatment outcomes. ctDNA-based approaches can effectively compensate for the shortcomings of traditional screening and monitoring methods, which fail to provide real-time information and prospective guidance for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. This review summarizes the applications of ctDNA in various aspects of breast cancer, including screening, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and follow-up. It highlights the current research status in this field and emphasizes the potential for future large-scale clinical applications of ctDNA-based approaches.

Clinical usefulness of circulating tumor markers

Tumor markers are a heterogeneous group of substances released by cancer cells into bloodstream, but also expressed by healthy tissues. Thus, very small concentrations can be present in plasma and serum from healthy subjects. Cancer patients tend to show increased levels correlating with tumor bulk, but false positive results could be present in patients with benign conditions. The correct interpretation of TM results could be challenging and many factors should be considered, from pre-analytical conditions to patient concomitant diseases. In this line, the Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine journal has made important contributions though several publications promoting the adequate use of TM and therefore improving patient safety. TM measurement offers valuable information for cancer patient management in different clinical contexts, such as helping diagnosis, estimating prognosis, facilitating early detection of relapse and monitoring therapy response. Our review analyzes the clinical usefulness of tumor markers applied in most frequent epithelial tumors, based on recent evidence and guidelines.

Systemic Inflammatory Markers for Predicting Overall Survival in Patients with Osteosarcoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Inflammatory markers are associated with tumor genesis and progression, but their prognostic significance in osteosarcoma remains unclear. Therefore, we discussed the prognostic value of related inflammatory markers in osteosarcoma through a meta-analysis and systematic review. These inflammatory markers include C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and Glasgow prognostic score (GPS).

Methods

The Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, Chinese Scientific Journals (VIP), PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane libraries were searched. The design of meta-analysis was made based on the PICOS (population, intervention/exposure, control, outcomes, and study design) principles, and STATA 15.1 was used to analyze the data. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS) was used to assess the quality of included studies. Hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DPS) were extracted for the investigation of the prognostic value of inflammatory markers.

Results

Twelve researches with 2162 osteosarcoma patients were included in total. The pooled results showed that elevated NLR, CRP, and GPS are all greatly related to shortening of OS among patients with osteosarcoma (HR = 1.68, P = 0.007, 95% CI: 1.15-2.45; HR = 1.96, P = 0.002, 95% CI: 1.28-3.00; HR = 2.54, P < 0.0001, 95% CI: 1.95-3.31, respectively), and CRP level is significantly associated with shortening of DPS among patients with osteosarcoma (HR = 2.76, 95% CI:2.01-3.80, P < 0.0001), additionally. However, the correlation between LMR or PLR and the prognosis of osteosarcoma is not statistically significant (HR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.30-1.18, P = 0.138; HR = 1.13, 95% CI: 0.85-1.49, P = 0.405, respectively). The outcomes of subgroup analysis to NLR and CRP suggested that histology, ethnicity, metastasis, and sample size all have an impact on its prognosis of patients with osteosarcoma.

Conclusion

Worsened prognosis may be related to high levels of NLR, CRP, and GPS before treatment rather than LMR or PLR, which can provide the basis for clinicians to judge the outcomes of prognosis. Trial Registration. PROSPERO (CRD42021249954), https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=249954.