Mark Sausen

TL;DR: The ability of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to detect tumors in 640 patients with various cancer types was evaluated and suggested that ctDNA is a broadly applicable, sensitive, and specific biomarker that can be used for a variety of clinical and research purposes.

TL;DR: Digital PCR-based technologies used to evaluate the ability of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to detect tumors in 640 patients with various cancer types suggest that ctDNA is a sensitive, specific and robust biomarker that can be used for a variety of clinical and research purposes in patients with several multiple different types of cancer.

TL;DR: In patients with resectable colorectal cancers, higher amounts of preoperative circulating tumor DNA were associated with disease recurrence and decreased overall survival, and a method developed by Phallen et al., called targeted error correction sequencing, demonstrates the feasibility of detecting circulating cell-free DNA from many early tumors, suggesting its potential use for cancer screening.

TL;DR: An approach to directly identify tumor-derived chromosomal alterations through analysis of circulating cell-free DNA from cancer patients is described and represents a useful method for the noninvasive detection of human tumors that is not dependent on the availability of tumor biopsies.

TL;DR: The role of MET in mediating primary and secondary resistance to anti-EGFR therapies in colorectal cancer is highlighted and the use of MET inhibitors in patients displaying resistance as a result of MET amplification is encouraged.