Julia Elvin, Vice President, Head of Biomarker Science and Technologies at AstraZeneca, shared on LinkedIn:
“My colleagues and I at AstraZeneca explored how blood draws can be used for more than monitoring treatment efficacy with ctDNA and may have the potential to detect therapy-induced toxicity signals in a recent JCO Precision Oncology Conversations podcast: ‘Beyond ctDNA for Efficacy: Can We Use Cell-Free DNA to Detect and Monitor Toxicity Signals?’
I was joined by James Hadfield and Yiqing Zhao, along with host Rafeh Naqash to discuss how methylation patterns and fragmentomics could reshape the way we detect, monitor, and ultimately prevent therapy-induced toxicity: Podcast: cfDNA Epigenetics for Toxicity Monitoring
Every cell type carries its own epigenetic fingerprint, and by reading methylation patterns in cell-free DNA, we can trace fragments back to the tissue they came from.
This creates the possibility that cfDNA-based toxicity monitoring could flag organ stress before clinical symptoms emerge, giving clinicians a window to intervene while potentially preserving effective therapy.
Personalized safety margins may also be within reach. Dose optimization in early-phase trials may not be guided solely by maximum tolerated dose, but also by patient-specific toxicity signals.
The promise of liquid biopsy is that a small blood sample can reveal increasingly rich information about what is happening inside the body.
As we continue to push this science forward, the opportunity is not only to detect cancer earlier or guide therapy more precisely, but also to build a more dynamic, less invasive way of understanding each patient’s disease and safety profile in real time.
Huge thanks to James and Grace for their work on this, and to Dr. Naqash and the JCO PO team for the thoughtful conversation.”
Other articles about cfDNA on OncoDaily.