The evidence base for circulating tumour DNA blood-based biomarkers for the early detection of cancer: a systematic mapping review

Abstract

Background: The presence of circulating cell-free DNA from tumours in blood (ctDNA) is of major importance to those interested in early cancer detection, as well as to those wishing to monitor tumour progression or diagnose the presence of activating mutations to guide treatment. In 2014, the UK Early Cancer Detection Consortium undertook a systematic mapping review of the literature to identify blood-based biomarkers with potential for the development of a non-invasive blood test for cancer screening, and which identified this as a major area of interest. This review builds on the mapping review to expand the ctDNA dataset to examine the best options for the detection of multiple cancer types.

Methods: The original mapping review was based on comprehensive searches of the electronic databases Medline, Embase, CINAHL, the Cochrane library, and Biosis to obtain relevant literature on blood-based biomarkers for cancer detection in humans (PROSPERO no. CRD42014010827). The abstracts for each paper were reviewed to determine whether validation data were reported, and then examined in full. Publications concentrating on monitoring of disease burden or mutations were excluded.

Results: The search identified 94 ctDNA studies meeting the criteria for review. All but 5 studies examined one cancer type, with breast, colorectal and lung cancers representing 60% of studies. The size and design of the studies varied widely. Controls were included in 77% of publications. The largest study included 640 patients, but the median study size was 65 cases and 35 controls, and the bulk of studies (71%) included less than 100 patients. Studies either estimated cfDNA levels non-specifically or tested for cancer-specific mutations or methylation changes (the majority using PCR-based methods).

Conclusion: We have systematically reviewed ctDNA blood biomarkers for the early detection of cancer. Pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical considerations were identified which need to be addressed before such biomarkers enter clinical practice. The value of small studies with no comparison between methods, or even the inclusion of controls is highly questionable, and larger validation studies will be required before such methods can be considered for early cancer detection.

Keywords: Cancer; Detection; Diagnosis; Liquid biopsy; cfDNA; ctDNA.

Conflict of interest statement

Authors’ information

IC is a pathologist and has recently moved to a post with the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organisation in Lyon. LU, and SH are Research Fellows in systematic review and HBW is an Information Specialist working at the University of Sheffield, UK. HK is a scientist and PhD student working on early cancer detection. AR is a Lecturer in Biomedical Science working at Coventry University, UK. STP is an associate professor with a NIHR Career Development Fellowship using quantitative research methods to assess new screening programmes. MM is a healthcare scientist at the University of Leeds with expertise in biomarker and in vitro diagnostic (IVD) development, validation and clinical evaluation. AC is Professor of Cancer Genetic Epidemiology at the University of Sheffield, UK. DT is Reader in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Sheffield, UK. OS is Director of the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI) and Professor in Molecular Pathology at Trinity College Dublin, Eire. JS is Professor of Translational Cancer Genetics at Leicester University, UK, with a particular interest in cfDNA.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

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Not applicable.

Competing interests

The ECDC has grant funding for early cancer biomarker research from Cancer Research UK who funded this work. The ECDC involves several companies as follows: GE Healthcare, Life Technologies, NALIA Systems Ltd., and Perkin-Elmer. Individual ECDC members have declared their interests to the ECDC secretariat. IC was formerly chairman and CEO of PinPoint Cancer Ltd., a spin-out company from ECDC which in part funded the completion of this work though provision of staff time (IC). MM is supported by the National Institute for Health Research Diagnostic Evidence Co-operative Leeds. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the UK Department of Health.

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Figures

Fig. 1

PRISMA diagram

Fig. 2

Number of targets and publications by tumour type, showing the expected concentration of studies on common cancer types. CRC, colorectal cancer; HNSCC, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma

Fig. 3

Study size. There are occasional large studies, but the vast majority are small, evidenced by the low median and averages for both cases and controls

Fig. 4

Use of serum or plasma for studies. The majority use plasma, but serum is preferred for methylation studies by some. Only three studies looked at both serum and plasma

Fig. 5

Targets: many studies looked at multiple targets, mainly either mutations or methylated genes

Fig. 6

Choice of method. Most publications used just one method, but biomarkers were measurable by more than one assay in 6 instances