ArticleCancer diagnosis & prognosis
Circulating Plasma Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as a Predictive Biomarker for Radiotherapy: Results from a Prospective Trial in Head and Neck Cancer.
Article in Cancer diagnosis & prognosis. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Circulating tumor DNA in Non-Viral head and neck squamous cell Carcinoma: A systematic review and Meta-Analysis.Oral oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Multiparametric profiling of plasma cell-free nucleic acids in nonagenarians and centenarians highlights age-related differences associated with longevity.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- cfGWAS reveal genetic basis of cell-free DNA end motifs.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The prognostic value of cell-free DNA dynamics during chemoradiotherapy in squamous cell carcinomas of the anus.International journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Immune biomarkers for head and neck cancer.Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII · 2025Review
- Circulating-free DNA: A promising tool for early detection of myocardial infarction.International journal of cardiology. Cardiovascular risk and prevention · 2025Review
- Circulating Cell-Free DNA Concentration as a Biomarker in Head and Neck Cancer.Oral diseases · 2025Article
- Review
- Assessment of cancer biomarkers in the Grenfell firefighter cohort study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Application of Z-scan technique in detecting circulating free DNA for prostate cancer diagnosis and monitoring.Lasers in medical science · 2025Article
- Binary classification of copy number alteration profiles in liquid biopsy with potential clinical impact in advanced NSCLC.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Next-Generation Sequencing Analysis of Mutations in Circulating Tumor DNA from the Plasma of Patients with Head-Neck Cancer Undergoing Chemo-Radiotherapy Using a Pan-Cancer Cell-Free Assay.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background/Aim: The plasma levels of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in cancer patients increase due to rapid cancer cell proliferation and death. Therefore, cfDNA can be used to study specific tumor-DNA features. In addition, the non-specific cfDNA concentration may be an important biomarker of cancer prognosis. Patients and Methods: We prospectively examined the predictive role of cfDNA levels and the kinetics in the outcome of chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) in a cohort of 47 patients with locally advanced squamous cell head-neck cancer (SCHNC) treated with definitive chemo-radiotherapy. Results: Increased cfDNA levels after therapy completion (after/before treatment ratio; A/B-ratio >1) were found in 26/47 patients (55.3%). Locally advanced T4-stage was significantly associated with higher cfDNA levels after CRT (3.3 ng/μl in T4-stage vs. 1.3 ng/μl in T1-3 stages, p=0.007). Patients who responded to CRT (partial/complete response) had significantly lower cfDNA levels before therapy (mean values 1.2 ng/μl vs. 2.7 ng/μl, p=0.03). A significantly worse locoregional progression-free survival in patients with an A/B-ratio >1 was documented (p=0.01; hazard ratio 3.5, 95%CI=1.2-9.7). This was also confirmed in multivariate analysis, where the A/B-ratio was an independent predictive variable of locoregional relapse (p=0.03, hazard ratio 3.9, 95%CI=1.2-13). Conclusion: High post-CRT cfDNA levels could be an early biomarker for the immediate recruitment of patients with SCHNC in consolidation chemo-immunotherapy protocols.
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.