Natera shared on LinkedIn:
“Head and neck cancer can recur in up to 60% of patients, making early detection of recurrence critical.
Signatera was recently featured in three new peer-reviewed publications in npj Precision Oncology, JAMA Otolaryngology, and Advances in Radiation Oncology. Collectively, the studies demonstrate Signatera’s ability to detect recurrence in advance of imaging and help predict which patients may benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.
These datasets build on the prospective Phase 2 SINERGY trial, which was selected for an oral plenary at the 2026 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium earlier this year. We’re proud to continue contributing important research that we hope will help patients with this type of cancer.
About Signatera
Signatera is Natera’s personalized, tumor-informed circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) test, commonly referred to as a Molecular Residual Disease (MRD) test. It is custom-built based on each patient’s specific tumor tissue profile to detect residual cancer cells or recurrence in the blood much earlier than standard imaging (such as CT, MRI, or PET-CT scans).
Three new clinical publications highlight the strong clinical performance and potential actionability of Signatera in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The studies evaluated patients across both HPV-positive and HPV-negative head and neck cancers.
In the publication featured in npj Precision Oncology, which evaluated long-term surveillance in post-definitive treatment patients, serial ctDNA monitoring achieved a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 98% for predicting recurrence.
Patients with persistent ctDNA positivity following therapy had a hazard ratio for relapse exceeding 10.0 compared to those who cleared their ctDNA, reflecting a stark difference in recurrence-free survival.
The data published in JAMA Otolaryngology focused on real-time treatment response during systemic therapy and radiation. Among patients who demonstrated complete ctDNA clearance during or immediately after treatment, 2-year overall survival reached 92%, compared to under 35% in non-responders who remained ctDNA-positive.
Finally, the study in Advances in Radiation Oncology confirmed that post-surgical ctDNA detection yielded a 100% positive predictive value for distant metastasis.
Integrating these metrics allows clinicians to identify high-risk patients who require therapy escalation while offering a clear quantitative signal to monitor treatment efficacy.
You can also read: Natera’s Signatera MRD Test Gains Broader Medicare Coverage for Liver Cancer Surveillance
