ArticleEBioMedicine2026
Prognostic value of peri-operative circulating tumour DNA levels estimated by cell-free DNA methylation in patients with resectable colorectal liver metastases.
Article in EBioMedicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
22 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHalf of the patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) that undergo local treatment with curative intent experience recurrence within one year. New biomarkers are needed to stratify patients before and/or after surgery to minimise both over- and under-treatment with peri-operative chemotherapy.
methodsWe profiled 120 patients with CRLM not treated with (neo-)adjuvant chemotherapy using a combined assay for genome-wide cell-free DNA methylation and copy number profiling both pre-operatively and three weeks after local treatment of CRLMs. These data were used to estimate the proportion of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in these patients using data from healthy controls and CRLM tissues for reference. The prognostic value of pre-operative and post-operative ctDNA load was assessed on Recurrence-Free Survival (RFS) and Overall Survival (OS) using Cox proportional hazards models.
findingsThe ctDNA estimates based on both DNA methylation and copy numbers were significantly correlated with mutation-based ctDNA fractions and captured tumour-derived information, such as tumour size. The continuous ctDNA amount estimated using methylation was an independent, pre-operative prognostic marker for both RFS (HR = 1.20, 95% CI = [1.03, 1.39], p-value = 0.019) and OS (HR = 1.31, 95% CI = [1.10, 1.55], p-value = 0.002) after accounting for age, sex, Fong risk score, primary tumour location and metastasis timing. Elevated ctDNA levels post-operatively were significantly associated with shorter RFS (p-value = 0.03), but not OS (p-value = 0.16).
interpretationThis study demonstrated the prognostic value of pre-operative and post-operative ctDNA in a homogeneous, chemotherapy-naïve cohort of patients with CRLM as well as its potential to guide decisions on administering peri-operative chemotherapy.
fundingDutch Cancer Society, Dutch Digestive Health Fund.
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.