The ability to assess MRD in patients with NSCLC would be practice changing, according to Robert Rintoul, MB ChB, reader in thoracic oncology in the Department of Oncology at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Rintoul was commenting on preliminary findings presented at the AACR Virtual Annual Meeting II showing that the novel RaDaR assay could detect circulating tumor DNA 6 to 12 months before clinical progression in patients with early-stage NSCLC. 

In patients with Stage 2 NSCLC or lymph node involvement, adjuvant chemotherapy confers a survival advantage of approximately 5%, but most patients experience adverse effects, Rintoul said. 

The availability of a validated method of assessing MRD would enable adjuvant chemotherapy to be targeted to the patients who would derive the greatest benefit from it, he said, while allowing those less likely to benefit to avoid the associated toxicities.

Tags: MRD, NSCLC