Multimodal liquid biopsy surveillance after pancreatectomy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: evidence and a confirmation-gated, trial-ready framework
Blood tests detecting pancreatic cancer recurrence weeks before imaging could enable faster treatment decisions and prevent unnecessary early interventions.
This scoping review synthesizes evidence for multimodal liquid biopsy (ctDNA, CTCs, EVs) after curative-intent pancreatectomy for PDAC, showing consistent early recurrence prediction preceding imaging by weeks to months, with EV markers providing complementary but less reproducible data. The authors propose a pragmatic confirmation-gated algorithm to avoid premature treatment escalation and outline trial frameworks to generate definitive clinical utility evidence.
What the study was
- Study design
- Scoping review with framework proposal
- Population
- Resected or curatively treated PDAC patients undergoing post-operative surveillance
- Category
- Diagnostics
- Maturity
- Exploratory
- Journal
- Cancer Treatment and Research Communications
Why it surfaced
Clinically actionable scoping review with pragmatic decision framework for PDAC post-surgical liquid biopsy; PDAC has very high unmet need (5-year survival ~12%); algorithm addresses real clinical gap in MRD management
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