Circulating tumor DNA

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is tumor-derived fragmented DNA in the bloodstream that is not associated with cells. ctDNA should not be confused with cell-free DNA (cfDNA), a broader term which describes DNA that is freely circulating in the bloodstream, but is not necessarily of tumor origin. Because ctDNA may reflect the entire tumor genome, it has gained traction for its potential clinical utility; “liquid biopsies” in the form of blood draws may be taken at various time points to monitor tumor progression throughout the treatment regimen. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is tumor-derived fragmented DNA in the bloodstream that is not associated with cells. ctDNA should not be confused with cell-free DNA (cfDNA), a broader term which describes DNA that is freely circulating in the bloodstream, but is not necessarily of tumor origin. Because ctDNA may reflect the entire tumor genome, it has gained traction for its potential clinical utility; “liquid biopsies” in the form of blood draws may be taken at various time points to monitor tumor progression throughout the treatment regimen. ctDNA originates directly from the tumor or from circulating tumor cells (CTCs), which describes viable, intact tumor cells that shed from primary tumors and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system. The precise mechanism of ctDNA release is unclear. The biological processes postulated to be involved in ctDNA release include apoptosis and necrosis from dying cells, or active release from viable tumor cells. Studies in both human (healthy and cancer patients) and xenografted mice show that the size of fragmented cfDNA is predominantly 166bp long, which corresponds to the length of DNA wrapped around a nucleosome plus a linker. Fragmentation of this length might be indicative of apoptotic DNA fragmentation, suggesting that apoptosis may be the primary method of ctDNA release. The fragmentation of cfDNA is altered in the plasma of cancer patients . In healthy tissue, infiltrating phagocytes are responsible for clearance of apoptotic or necrotic cellular debris, which includes cfDNA. Levels of cfDNA in healthy patients is only present at low levels but higher levels of ctDNA in cancer patients can be detected. This possibly occurs due to inefficient immune cell infiltration to tumor sites, which reduces effective clearance of ctDNA from the bloodstream. When blood is collected in EDTA tubes and stored, the white blood cells begin to lyse and release genomic wild type DNA in to the sample in quantities typically many fold higher than the ctDNA is present in. This makes detection of mutations or other ctDNA biomarkers more difficult. The use of commercially available cell stabilisation tubes can prevent or delay the lysis of white cells thereby reducing the dilution effect of the ctDNA. Sherwood et al demonstrated superior detection of KRAS mutations in matched samples collected in both EDTA K3 and Streck BCT tubes. The advantages of cell stabilisation tubes can be realised in situation where blood cannot be processed to plasma immediately. Other procedures can also reduce the amount of 'contaminating' wild type DNA and make detection of ctDNA more feasible: The main appeal of ctDNA analysis is that it is extracted in a non-invasive manner through blood collection. Acquisition of cfDNA or ctDNA typically requires collection of approximately 3mL of blood into EDTA-coated tubes. The use of EDTA is important to reduce coagulation of blood. The plasma and serum fractions of blood can be separated through a centrifugation step. ctDNA or cfDNA can be subsequently extracted from these fractions. Although serum tends to have greater levels of cfDNA, this is primarily attributed to DNA from lymphocytes. High levels of contaminating cfDNA is sub-optimal because this can decrease the sensitivity of ctDNA detection. Therefore, the majority of studies use plasma for ctDNA isolation. Plasma is then processed again by centrifugation to remove residual intact blood cells. The supernatant is used for DNA extraction, which can be performed using commercially available kits.