The research was in collaboration with the Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine. This study adds to the previous studies of prognostic effects of the I-score in various solid tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma, esophageal cancer, and pancreatic adenocarcinoma

The study analyzed 23 plasma samples from cancer patients across a range of lung, esophageal, and head and neck cancer, and plasma samples from 358 healthy people were used as negative controls. Test performance was evaluated at serial cfDNA monitoring points: before RT, 1 week after RT, and 1 month after completion of RT using I-score, which represents chromosomal alterations across the genome(CIN) of cfDNA from Low-coverage whole genome sequencing(LC-WGS) data.

The result showed that pretreatment I-scores tended to be higher in larger tumors, and there was a significant positive correlation between the gross tumor volume and the baseline I-score. Another interesting finding is that minimal residual disease following RT was detected earlier by cfDNA than by imaging studies. And the serial monitoring of the I-score in the post-treatment 4 months case demonstrated that the change in I-score was observed before the progression of the disease was detectable through imaging studies. 

"The findings of this study may have significant implications for the field of oncology, particularly for patients with lung, esophageal, and head and neck cancer," said Dr. Chang-Seok Ki, MD, CEO at GC Genome. "Further additional studies are ongoing to optimize the measurement and analysis of I-scores to predict radiation response accurately. The potential of cfDNA I-score as a monitoring tool in cancer treatment deserves continued investigation and attention."