"Predicting Prognosis of Liver Cancer Patients with a Single Drop of Blood"

Yonsei University Severance Hospital Research Team
TP53 Mutation Patients Show Poor Survival Rates
Expectations for ctDNA Test as Biomarker Use

[Photo by Yonsei Medical Center]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] A study has revealed that it is possible to predict patient prognosis in liver cancer, where treatment response prediction was difficult, using blood liquid biopsy (Liquid Biopsy).

The research team led by Professors Park Jun-yong and Lee Hye-won from the Department of Gastroenterology at Yonsei University Severance Hospital, along with Professor Lee Seung-tae from the Department of Laboratory Medicine, announced on the 25th that prognosis of liver cancer patients can be predicted through liquid biopsy tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing.

The team conducted tissue biopsy and serum liquid biopsy on a total of 143 subjects, including 102 liver cancer patients and 41 non-liver cancer patients at Severance Hospital from 2017 to 2018.

As a result of the tests, gene mutations such as TP53, TERT, and CTNNB1 were frequently found in both tissue and blood in about 50% of the patients. In contrast, gene mutations were not detected in patients with liver tumors or liver diseases.

To improve the accuracy of analysis, the research team utilized molecular barcode sequencing to analyze circulating ctDNA in the blood and confirmed that the gene mutation profile of ctDNA was similar to the gene mutation profile of actual liver cancer tissue.

Liver cancer patients with TP53 mutations showed worse survival rates compared to those without such mutations (P=0.007). In contrast, TERT and CTNNB1 mutations did not have a significant impact on patient survival. [Data provided by Yonsei Medical Center]

In particular, mutations in TP53 were found to be directly related to patient prognosis. Liver cancer patients with TP53 mutations showed significantly (P value=0.007) worse survival rates compared to those without the mutation. The P value is an indicator used in clinical settings to determine whether differences between groups are statistically significant, with values below 0.05 generally considered statistically significant. In contrast, mutations in TERT and CTNNB1 did not have a significant impact on patient survival.

Through this study, ctDNA testing in liver cancer patients is expected to be used as a biomarker to assist diagnosis and predict future treatment prognosis, as well as to monitor treatment response after anticancer therapies such as immunotherapy, which has recently gained attention in liver cancer treatment.

Professor Lee Hye-won stated, “By identifying mutation genes that affect treatment prognosis in liver cancer patients where predicting treatment response is difficult, it has become possible to predict patient treatment prognosis using liquid biopsy,” adding, “It is also expected to enable personalized anticancer treatment tailored to the patient’s cancer-related gene mutations.”

The results of this study were published as the cover article in the latest issue of the international journal Liver International (IF 8.754).

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