Dr. Janku on Longitudinal Monitoring of BRAF V600E Mutation in Urinary Cell-Free DNA

Filip Janku, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses longitudinal monitoring of BRAF V600E mutation in urinary cell-free DNA of patients with metastatic cancers. This study was presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting.

While BRAF mutation status changes over time, constantly biopsying patients is not feasible for a number of reasons. There remains a need for an alternative source of mutational analysis that can work over time.

The purpose of this study was to monitor the amount of BRAF mutation in a patient’s plasma and use it as a surrogate for response to therapy.