Potential use of transrenal DNA for non-invasive monitoring and prognosis of colorectal cancer

Background: Anti-EGFR mAb are recommended treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Accurate mutation profiling and disease monitoring are challenging. The current study investigates the potential use of transrenal DNA as a biomarker for disease management. Methods: Agreement between archival tissue specimens and transrenal DNA extracted from 200 post-treated mCRC patients was determined. Total DNA concentrations were measured and mutations within the KRAS and EGFR genes were profiled for each specimen. To ascertain therapy resistance; patients were serially monitored monthly. Results: Concordance measurement with matched tissues at baseline was remarkably high (92%) for EGFR and KRAS mutations. Sensitivity and specificity were 98.4% and 89.1% respectively. Newly detectable mutations for a subgroup of patients with initial wildtype characteristics were evident after 4 months of anti-EGFR mAb therapy. Survival analysis using adjusted estimates showed that patients detected by transrenal DNA for key mutations or had higher mutant DNA content had poorer outcome. Conclusion: Transrenal DNA offers new options to follow clinical treatment in mCRC. It demonstrates the ability to capture newly acquired mutations that has strong associative links to therapy resistance. Patients with these mutations fared poorly for survival outcomes and indicated possible prognostic value for transrenal DNA detection.