Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The optimal perioperative management of patients who undergo hepatectomy for resectable colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) remains unclear due to the lack of reliable methods to stratify the risk of recurrence.
METHODS: A single-center retrospective study was performed to investigate the impact of preoperative circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) on survival outcomes of patients who underwent initial hepatectomy for solitary resectable CRLM between January 2005 and December 2017 using the comprehensive genotyping platform Guardant360®.
RESULTS: Of 212 patients who underwent initial hepatectomy for solitary resectable CRLM, 40 patients for whom pre-hepatectomy plasma was available underwent ctDNA analysis. Among them, 32 (80%) had at least 1 somatic alteration in their ctDNA, while the other 8 (20%) had no detectable ctDNA. Among the patients with undetectable ctDNA, only one had recurrence and none died during a median follow-up period of 39.0 months. The recurrence-free survival was significantly shorter in patients who were positive for ctDNA than in those who were negative for ctDNA [median, 12.5 months vs not reached (NR); HR, 7.6; P = 0.02]. The overall survival also tended to be shorter in patients who were positive for ctDNA than those who were negative for ctDNA (median, 78.1 months vs NR; P = 0.14; HR not available).
CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing hepatectomy for solitary resectable CRLM, the absence of detectable preoperative ctDNA identified patients with a high chance for a cure. Risk stratification according to preoperative ctDNA analysis may be an effective tool that can improve the perioperative management of these patients.

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