ArticleJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology2026
Circulating tumor DNA level is associated with time to clinical recurrence in Merkel cell carcinoma: Implications for patient management.
Article in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- A 30-Year Single-Centre Series of Unknown Primary Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Management and Prognosis.Cancers · 2026Article
- Circulating Tumor DNA in Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Precision Biomarker for Recurrence Detection and Therapeutic Guidance.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- Response to Gao and Chen, "Comments on Akaike et al's 'Circulating tumor DNA level is associated with time to clinical recurrence in Merkel cell carcinoma: Implications for patient management'".Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · 2026Article
- Circulating tumor DNA in neoadjuvant therapy for solid tumors.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
23 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMerkel cell carcinoma (MCC) recurs in 40% of patients. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is an emerging blood-based biomarker for early MCC recurrence detection.
objectiveTo evaluate the timing and prognostic significance of ctDNA levels relative to clinical recurrence.
methodsThis multicenter prospective study analyzed 669 tumor-informed ctDNA tests from 215 MCC patients (stage I-IV) without clinically evident disease after treatment.
resultsPatients with at least 1 positive ctDNA test were more likely to experience recurrence compared to ctDNA-negative patients (hazard ratio: 18.1, 95% CI: 8.9-36.7), with 77% developing clinically evident disease by 1 year. The median lead time between the first positive ctDNA and clinical recurrence was 2.7 months. Clinical recurrences usually occurred within 3 months for ctDNA levels above 10 molecules/mL, within 6 months for levels between 1-10 molecules/mL, and within 9 months for levels below 1 molecule/mL. LIMITATIONS: In this real-world study, there was variability in timing and frequency of follow-up examinations, imaging, and ctDNA testing, although most patients were followed with both ctDNA and imaging.
conclusionsA positive ctDNA test detects MCC recurrence approximately 3 months earlier than imaging. Negative ctDNA can help reduce imaging frequency through serial ctDNA monitoring, while positive ctDNA warrants closer patient follow-up.
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