ArticleBMC cancer2017
Droplet digital PCR for detection and quantification of circulating tumor DNA in plasma of head and neck cancer patients.
Article in BMC cancer, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- ctDNA to Predict Treatment Response in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review.The Laryngoscope · 2026Pooled it
- Circulating HPV cDNA in the blood as a reliable biomarker for cervical cancer: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2020Pooled it
- KRAS gene mutation quantification in the resection or venous margins of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is not predictive of disease recurrence.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Utility of targeted deep sequencing for detecting circulating tumor DNA in pancreatic cancer patients.Scientific reports · 2018Trial
- Circulating extracellular vesicle DNA (EV-DNA) and cell-free DNA in ovarian cancer: pathological relevance and diagnostic applications.Extracellular vesicles and circulating nucleic acids · 2026Review
- Circulating tumour cells and circulating tumour DNA in head and neck cancer: from molecular insights to clinical impact.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2025Review
- Liquid Biopsies in Head and Neck Cancers: Recent Developments Across Biofluids, Analytes, and Molecular Features.Head & neck · 2025Review
- Review
- The Role of Circulating Tumor DNA in Patients Treated with Adjuvant Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Clinical Reality or Distant Horizon?Current oncology reports · 2025Review
- Review
- Integrated analysis of oral rinse-derived and plasma circulating tumour DNA for mutation profiling and outcome prediction with oral squamous cell carcinoma.NPJ precision oncology · 2025Article
- The impact of liquid biopsy in breast cancer: Redefining the landscape of non-invasive precision oncology.The journal of liquid biopsy · 2025Review
- Role of Cell-free DNA as a Non-Invasive Biomarker in the Detection of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB · 2025Article
- Review
- Circulating Tumor Cells in Cancer Diagnosis, Therapy, and Theranostics Applications: An Overview of Emerging Materials and Technologies.Current pharmaceutical design · 2025Review
- Rapid and Sensitive Digital Droplet PCR Assays for Detecting HPV16 DNA in Liquid Biopsies.Journal of medical virology · 2025Article
- Recent advances in ctDNA detection using electrochemical biosensor for cancer.Discover oncology · 2024Review
- Does circulating tumor DNA apply as a reliable biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma?Discover oncology · 2024Review
- Evaluation of DNA methylation levels ofOncology reports · 2024Article
- BL-MOL-AR Project, Preliminary Results about Liquid Biopsy: Molecular Approach Experience and Research Activity in Oncological Settings.Global medical genetics · 2023Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDuring posttreatment surveillance of head and neck cancer patients, imaging is insufficiently accurate for the early detection of relapsing disease. Free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) may serve as a novel biomarker for monitoring tumor burden during posttreatment surveillance of these patients. In this exploratory study, we investigated whether low level ctDNA in plasma of head and neck cancer patients can be detected using Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR).
methodsTP53 mutations were determined in surgically resected primary tumor samples from six patients with high stage (II-IV), moderate to poorly differentiated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Subsequently, mutation specific ddPCR assays were designed. Pretreatment plasma samples from these patients were examined on the presence of ctDNA by ddPCR using the mutation-specific assays. The ddPCR results were evaluated alongside clinicopathological data.
resultsIn all cases, plasma samples were found positive for targeted TP53 mutations in varying degrees (absolute quantification of 2.2-422 mutational copies/ml plasma). Mutations were detected in wild-type TP53 background templates of 7667-156,667 copies/ml plasma, yielding fractional abundances of down to 0.01%.
conclusionsOur results show that detection of tumor specific TP53 mutations in low level ctDNA from HNSCC patients using ddPCR is technically feasible and provide ground for future research on ctDNA quantification for the use of diagnostic biomarkers in the posttreatment surveillance of HNSCC patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.