Trovagene, a developer of cell-free molecular diagnostics, announced the presentation of clinical data featuring the use of its Precision Cancer Monitoring (PCM) platform for monitoring treatment response in patients diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Afsaneh Barzi, M.D., Ph.D., University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, will present the data at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics on November 7, 2015, in Boston. The data are an interim analysis from an ongoing 30-patient, blinded biomarker study.

"This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the value of longitudinal monitoring of KRAS mutations in metastatic colorectal cancer patients using Trovagene’s urine-based liquid biopsy technology," stated Mark Erlander, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Trovagene.

"Similar to what we have observed in lung cancer studies, these data demonstrate that increases in urinary ctDNA KRAS signal, in metastatic colorectal cancer patients, were observed two months prior to imaging and decreases were seen within two weeks of starting chemotherapy."

"The dynamics of ctDNA KRAS mutation load in urine correlated with radiographic responses, especially in liver-dominant metastatic patients," stated Dr. Barzi. "This suggests that urinary ctDNA may be a valuable method for monitoring treatment responses in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer."

Abstract title: Use of urinary circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) KRAS for monitoring treatment response in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Abstract No. B4

Presenter: Afsaneh Barzi, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC

Presentation type: Poster Session B

Presentation Highlights:

The dynamics of ctDNA KRAS mutation burden in urine demonstrated a stronger correlation with clinical course as compared to plasma.

A significant decrease in urinary ctDNA KRAS signal was observed as early as two weeks after starting chemotherapy
Increases in urinary ctDNA KRAS signal was observed two months prior to radiographic imaging.