China-based medtech firm Burning Rock Ltd (NASDAQ: BNR) has revealed positive findings from a five-year clinical trial of its liquid assay-based personalized minimal residual disease (MRD) product, CanCatch (PROPHET panel; Patient-specific pROgnostic and Potential tHErapeutic marker Tracking). The results, published in Cancer Cell under the title “Individualized tumor-informed circulating tumor DNA analysis for postoperative monitoring of non-small cell lung cancer”, highlight the product’s efficacy in postoperative monitoring for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
MEDAL Study Design and Findings
The prospective observational study, known as MEDAL (MEthylation based Dynamic Analysis for Lung cancer, NCT03634826), is a five-year trial designed to investigate the clinical performance of MRD in patients with NSCLC. During the study, the PROPHET panel was utilized alongside fixed-panel assays and deep sequencing of 50 patient-specific variants to detect MRD. The technique was applied to 760 plasma samples from 181 subjects with early-stage NSCLC. The study found that PROPHET outperforms fixed-panel assays in prognostic analysis and demonstrates a median lead-time of 299 days to radiologically confirmed recurrence.
Implications of the TNMB Classification
The proposed tumor-node-metastasis-blood (TNMB) classification is presented as a more useful prognostic guide for determining when to carry out adjuvant treatment than traditional TNM staging. These findings suggest that PROPHET is expected to play a clinical role in helping to evaluate the effect of adjuvant therapy, potentially improving treatment strategies for patients with NSCLC.-Fineline Info & Tech
