In recent years, the detection of molecular residual disease (MRD) by circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has emerged as a key part of physician-patient shared decision-making. To date, Natera’s ctDNA MRD assay, Signatera™, has been utilized across tumor types by >40% of US oncologists across >250,000 patients and 1 million timepoints.

The prognostic and predictive value of ctDNA in early-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) has been demonstrated across large scale studies and there is growing data indicating that standard adjuvant therapy remains insufficient for patients with MRD, underscoring a need for more interventional trials.

We will dive into the latest data from publications and ASCO GI, which sheds light on the impact of treatment on MRD.

• Updated overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) data from the CIRCULATE-JAPAN GALAXY study, a large prospective trial with 2,000+ patients, confirms that ctDNA-positive patients experience worse outcomes than ctDNA-negative patients. Although ctDNA+ patients benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, more than half still relapse, underscoring the need for new therapies.
• The BESPOKE CRC study, the largest multicenter, observational ctDNA study in the US to date, provided insight into how physicians leverage Signatera™ to support treatment decision-making. Results indicated an increase in curative-intent oligometastasis-directed therapy and ctDNA clearance in patients receiving MRD-guided treatment
• Other studies are examining the impact of new therapy regimens in the adjuvant setting. Most notably, a retrospective analysis from the CALGB (Alliance)/SWOG 80702 trial demonstrated that ctDNA+ patients treated with celecoxib + chemotherapy achieved significantly improved DFS and OS compared to chemotherapy alone.

Please join us for an insightful webinar and discussion surrounding the management of CRC using MRD testing and the role of ctDNA in enabling new drug development opportunities in early-stage disease.