Clinical application progress of circulating free DNA in pancreatic cancer / 复旦学报（医学版）

ABSTRACT

Circulating free DNA (cfDNA) are short fragments of nucleic acids present in circulation outside of cells.In patients with cancer,some portion of cfDNA is derived from tumor cells,termed circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA),and contains the same mutations and genetic changes as the cancer.The development of new and more effective methods to detect these changes has led to increased interest in developing ctDNA as a biomarker for cancer.Here we will review current literatures on the use of ctDNA,with an emphasis on pancreatic cancer,for cancer detection,prognosis,monitoring response to therapy and tracking the rise of new mutant subclones.