CIRCE co-director Lao Saal and his team have developed and validated a blood test that can detect tiny amounts of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in patients with early breast cancer. In a study of 136 patients, the test identified patients at high risk of recurrence and detected signs of relapse on average 13.8 months before the disease became clinically visible, and in some cases nearly four years earlier. The method, called Pathlight, also provided valuable information about how patients responded to treatment.
Key results:
- Tumor DNA could be detected in the blood of nearly 90 percent of patients before treatment began.
- In approximately 21 percent of patients, tumor DNA could still be detected after the drug treatment given before surgery.
- In 13 percent of patients, tumor DNA levels did not show a clear decline during treatment, which was strongly associated with a high risk of recurrence.
- The method provided more accurate prognostic information than pathological complete response (pCR), today’s established measure of treatment response before surgery in breast cancer.
- The presence of tumor DNA in blood after surgery was strongly associated with future recurrence.
Read the full press release at: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/blood-test-detects-early-signs-breast-cancer-recurrence
Pictured above are study authors Anthony George, Yilun Chen, Lao Saal, and Sergii Gladchuk.
Citation:
NeoCircle: pre- and post-operative circulating tumor DNA dynamics predicts survival in neoadjuvant-treated early breast cancer.
George AM, Chen Y, Gladchuk S, Alcaide M, Dalal H, Meng P, Brueffer C, Saghir H, Kimbung S, Aaltonen K, Oton L, Rushton C, Birkeälv S, Jönsson M, Zackrisson S, Skarping I, Förnvik D, Zander L, Honeth G, Woodhouse S, Howarth K, Borg Å, Ehinger A, Malmberg M, Rydén L, Loman N, Saal LH.
EMBO Mol Med. 2026 May 26.