Circulating tumour DNA for precision medicine

许多癌症会将少量DNA（循环肿瘤DNA或ctDNA）脱落到患者的血液中。最近的技术进步现在可以准确测量血液中的ctDNA水平。ctDNA水平的变化有可能用作疾病进展和/或对癌症治疗的反应的特异性标志物。这项研究将推进ctDNA的使用，以连续跟踪患者，并在几种癌症类型的癌症管理中制定个性化的治疗决策。

Many cancers shed small amounts of DNA (circulating tumour DNA or ctDNA) into the patient’s bloodstream. Recent technological advances now allow levels of ctDNA to be accurately measured in the blood. Changes in ctDNA levels have potential to be used as specific markers of disease progression and/or response to cancer therapy. This research will advance the use of ctDNA to serially follow patients and individualise treatment decisions in cancer management across several cancer types.