Circulating cell free tumor DNA for disease monitoring after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer: proof-of-principle

Background: An active surveillance approach has been proposed for patients with a clinically complete response (cCR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) in esophageal cancer (SANO trial). To justify renouncing surgical resection, patients with residual disease after nCRT should be accurately identified. However, substantial residual disease (TRG3-4) cannot be detected in 10% of patients with current diagnostic tests (preSANO trial)....