ArticleJournal of gastroenterology2021
Post-treatment cell-free DNA as a predictive biomarker in molecular-targeted therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Article in Journal of gastroenterology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Detection of Circulating Cell-free DNA to Diagnose Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Chinese Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Current medicinal chemistry · 2024Pooled it
- Non-Invasive Assessment of Microvascular Invasion Risk in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using Liquid Biopsy: Translational Insights and Clinical Implications.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Tumor-based biomarkers and circulating tumor DNA for precision medicine in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2026Review
- The Clinical Utility of Cell-Free DNA in Brain Tumor Management: A Comprehensive Review.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2025Review
- A hitchhiker's guide to cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for neuro-oncology.Neuro-oncology · 2025Review
- Extracellular vesicle digital scoring assay for assessment of treatment responses in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2025Article
- Article
- The Current Role of Circulating Cell-Free DNA in the Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.Cancers · 2025Review
- Predictive value of biomarkers for lenvatinib in hepatocellular carcinoma.Therapeutic advances in medical oncology · 2025Review
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma: The Search for an Optimal Screening Test.Middle East journal of digestive diseases · 2025Review
- Biomarkers for diagnosis and therapeutic options in hepatocellular carcinoma.Molecular cancer · 2024Review
- Methylated SEPT9 assay-based liquid biopsy as a biomarker in molecular targeted agent-treated hepatocellular carcinoma.Hepatology international · 2023Article
- Is Cell-Free DNA Testing in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Ready for Prime Time?International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Review
- Article
- Systemic therapies in hepatocellular carcinoma: Existing and emerging biomarkers for treatment response.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Review
- Postoperative Circulating Tumor DNA Can Predict High Risk Patients with Colorectal Cancer Based on Next-Generation Sequencing.Cancers · 2021Article
- Genomic Landscape of Liquid Biopsy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Personalized Medicine.Cancer genomics & proteomicsReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
17 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLiquid biopsies, particularly those involving circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), are rapidly emerging as a non-invasive alternative to tumor biopsies. However, clinical applications of ctDNA analysis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been fully elucidated.
methodsWe measured the amount of plasma-derived cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in HCC patients before (n = 100) and a few days after treatment (n = 87), including radiofrequency ablation, transarterial chemoembolization, and molecular-targeted agents (MTAs), and prospectively analyzed their associations with clinical parameters and prognosis. TERT promoter mutations in cfDNA were analyzed using droplet digital PCR. Furthermore, we performed a comprehensive mutational analysis of post-treatment cfDNA via targeted ultra-deep sequencing (22,000× coverage) in a panel of 275 cancer-related genes in selected patients.
resultsPlasma cfDNA levels increased significantly according to HCC clinical stage, and a high cfDNA level was independently associated with a poor prognosis. TERT promoter mutations were detected in 45% of all cases but were not associated with any clinical characteristics. cfDNA levels increased significantly a few days after treatment, and a greater increase in post-treatment cfDNA levels was associated with a greater therapeutic response to MTAs. The detection rate of TERT mutations increased to 57% using post-treatment cfDNA, suggesting that the ctDNA was enriched. Targeted ultra-deep sequencing using post-treatment cfDNA after administering lenvatinib successfully detected various gene mutations and obtained promising results in lenvatinib-responsive cases.
conclusionsPost-treatment cfDNA analysis may facilitate the construction of biomarkers for predicting MTA treatment effects.
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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.