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TOPLINE
Posttreatment circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) positivity was associated with Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) recurrence and may help identify patients at a higher risk, a study suggested.
METHODOLOGY
- Researchers identified 36 patients (mean age, 72 years; 72.2% men; 83.3% White) with MCC at a single institution who underwent ctDNA testing between 2020 and 2025.
- Patients underwent standard surveillance with routine imaging and clinical assessments following curative-intent surgery. Patients were classified as ctDNA positive if they had at least one positive postoperative result. The median testing frequency was 2.8 months.
- Outcomes included recurrence rates, time between the first positive ctDNA test and clinical recurrence, and the correlation between ctDNA titers and clinical outcomes. Median follow-up duration was 48 months.
- Researchers examined the association between ctDNA detection and MCC recurrence.
TAKEAWAY
- Overall, 47.2% of patients (n = 17) had positive ctDNA, of whom 14 (82.4%) experienced recurrence. Among the 20 patients without clinical recurrence, 17 (85%) remained ctDNA negative throughout follow-up.
- The median first positive ctDNA titer was 2.11 MTM/mL; a lower initial ctDNA titer was associated with a longer median time to recurrence (95 days for titers < 2.11 MTM/mL vs 34 days for titers > 2.11 MTM/mL).
- Among patients with pathologically or radiographically confirmed recurrence, 87.5% (14 of 16) had detectable ctDNA at some point during surveillance.
- Two patients demonstrated treatment responsiveness, with detectable ctDNA titers following surgery that became negative upon adjuvant treatment initiation, suggesting a ctDNA’s role as a marker of therapeutic response.
IN PRACTICE
“Our findings suggest that ctDNA may provide meaningful clinical value by enabling earlier detection, and future research efforts should further optimize the integration of ctDNA testing into standardized MCC surveillance protocols,” the study authors wrote.
SOURCE
The study was led by Lily Rajaee, MS, Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, University of California, Irvine, and was published online as a brief report on August 18 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
LIMITATIONS
The study was limited by a small sample size and retrospective design. Additionally, the interval between blood sampling and recurrence detection varied among patients.
DISCLOSURES
The study did not receive any specific funding. The authors did not declare any conflicts of interest.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
