Monitoring the HER2 copy number status in circulating tumor DNA by droplet digital PCR in patients with gastric cancer

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K10110
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Digestive surgery
• Research Institution: Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Kazuma Okamoto 京都府立医科大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (20285258)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 市川 大輔 山梨大学, 大学院総合研究部, 教授 (20347446)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: リキッドバイオプシー / 胃癌 / HER2

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Oncogenic activation (e.g. amplification) of uman epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) results in its protein overexpression and subsequent abnormal cell signalling, which contributes to cancer progression. Important issues for HER2-targeted therapy in GC are inaccurate assessments of HER2 status owing to intratumoral heterogeneity, which results in inappropriately choosing patients for HER2-targeted therapy. We investigated the potential clinical utility of the droplet digital PCR (ddPCR)-based HER2 copy number (CN) as a marker for the temporal and/or spatial heterogeneities of GC during treatment progress. The plasma HER2 amplification determined by ddPCR is a repeatable and noninvasive approach for real- time evaluations of the HER2 status to monitor the effects of treatments for patients with HER2-positive GC and enable treatment options for patients with HER2-negative GC but positive conversion of the HER2 status after recurrence.

Free Research Field

胃癌