Evaluation of a multimodal ctDNA-based assay for detection of aggressive cancers lacking standard screening tests

Abstract

Aim: Cancers lacking standard screening (LSS) options account for approximately 70% of cancer-related deaths due to late-stage diagnosis. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is a promising biomarker for multi-cancer early detection. We previously developed SPOT-MAS, a multimodal ctDNA-based assay analyzing methylation and fragmentomic profiles, effective in detecting common cancers (breast, colorectal, liver, lung and gastric). This study extends the analysis to five LSS cancers: endometrial, esophageal, head and neck, ovarian and pancreatic.Methods: SPOT-MAS was applied to profile cfDNA methylation and fragmentomic patterns in 739 healthy individuals and 135 LSS cancer patients.Results: We identified 347 differentially methylated regions and observed genome-wide hypomethylation across all five LSS cancers. Esophageal and head and neck cancers showed an enrichment of short cfDNA fragments (<150 bp). Eleven 4-mer end motifs were consistently altered in cfDNA fragments across all LSS cancers. Many significant signatures were consistent with previous observations in common cancers. Notably, SPOT-MAS achieved 96.2% specificity and 74.8% overall sensitivity, with a lower sensitivity of 60.7% in early-stage cancers.Conclusion: This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that SPOT-MAS a non-invasive test trained on five common cancer types, could detect a number of LSS cancer cases, potentially complementing existing screening programs.

Keywords: MCED; ctDNA; endometrial cancer; esophageal cancer; head and neck cancer; methylation and fragmentomic; ovarian cancer; pancreatic cancer.