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ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Activating fusions of the _NTRK1_, _NTRK2_ and _NTRK3_ genes are drivers of carcinogenesis and proliferation across a broad range of tumour types in both adult and
paediatric patients. Recently, the FDA granted tumour-agnostic approvals of TRK inhibitors, larotrectinib and entrectinib, based on significant and durable responses in multiple primary
tumour types. Unfortunately, testing rates in clinical practice remain quite low. Adding plasma next-generation sequencing of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) to tissue-based testing increases
the detection rate of oncogenic drivers and demonstrates high concordance with tissue genotyping. However, the clinical potential of ctDNA analysis to identify _NTRK_ fusion-positive
tumours has been largely unexplored. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed a ctDNA database in advanced stage solid tumours for _NTRK1_ fusions. RESULTS _NTRK1_ fusion events, with nine unique
fusion partners, were identified in 37 patients. Of the cases for which clinical data were available, 44% had tissue testing for _NTRK1_ fusions; the _NTRK1_ fusion detected by ctDNA was
confirmed in tissue in 88% of cases. Here, we report for the first time that minimally-invasive plasma NGS can detect _NTRK_ fusions with a high positive predictive value. CONCLUSION Plasma
ctDNA represents a rapid, non-invasive screening method for this rare genomic target that may improve identification of patients who can benefit from TRK-targeted therapy and potentially
identify subsequent on- and off-target resistance mechanisms. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS
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institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS CIRCULATING TUMOUR MUTATION DETECTION IN TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER AS AN
ADJUNCT TO TISSUE RESPONSE ASSESSMENT Article Open access 05 January 2024 GENOMIC ANALYSIS OF PLASMA CIRCULATING TUMOR DNA IN PATIENTS WITH HEAVILY PRETREATED HER2 + METASTATIC BREAST CANCER
Article Open access 19 June 2023 MUTATIONAL PROFILING USING LIQUID BIOPSY TO GUIDE TARGETED THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH METASTATIC CANCER Article Open access 01 April 2025 REFERENCES * Cocco
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Central Google Scholar Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Not applicable. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Center for Thoracic Oncology, Tisch Cancer Institute, Mount Sinai
System & Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA Christian Rolfo * Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA Alexander Drilon & Alison M. Schram *
Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA David Hong * University of California, San
Francisco, CA, USA Caroline McCoach * Genentech, South San Francisco, CA, USA Caroline McCoach * University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA Afshin Dowlati & Timmy
Nguyen * Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Jessica J. Lin, Neelima Vidula & Aditya Bardia * Thoracic Oncology & Experimental
Therapeutics Program, Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA Alessandro Russo * Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center,
Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA Stephen V. Liu * Keck School of Medicine of USC, Section Head – Solid Tumors, USC/Norris Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA Jorge J. Nieva * James
R. Berenson, MD, Inc., West Hollywood, CA, USA Shahrooz Eshaghian * Duke Cancer Institute, Division of Medical Oncology, Durham, NC, USA Michael Morse & Thomas Stinchcombe * Yale
Comprehensive Cancer Center, New Haven, CT, USA Scott Gettinger & Sarah Goldberg * ProMedica Bay Park Hospital Cancer, Sylvania, OH, USA Mohammad Mobayed * Kymera Cancer Center and
University of New Mexico, Roswell, NM, USA Emilio Araujo-Mino * Saint Lukes Cancer Institute/University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO, USA Janakiraman Subramanian * US Oncology Network, Texas
Oncology, Baytown, TX, USA Deepa Sashital * Guardant Health, Redwood City, CA, USA Lesli Kiedrowski & Kristin Price * UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA, USA David R.
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author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Neelima Vidula View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Aditya
Bardia View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Janakiraman Subramanian View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed
Google Scholar * Deepa Sashital View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Thomas Stinchcombe View author publications You can also search for
this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Lesli Kiedrowski View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Kristin Price View author publications You can
also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * David R. Gandara View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS CR, LK, KP and DRG
conceived the work; LK and KP acquired data; AD, JJL, AMS, LK and KP provided detailed cases information and materials; CR, AR, LK, KP and DRG drafted the manuscript and analysed the data;
all the co-authors revised the manuscript. All the co-authors approved the final version. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Christian Rolfo. ETHICS DECLARATIONS ETHICS APPROVAL AND
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE This research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Institutional Review Board approval (Advarra IRB Pro00034566/CR00218935) waived the need
for individual informed consent for use of deidentified aggregate data for research purposes. CONSENT TO PUBLISH Not applicable. COMPETING INTERESTS Dr. Rolfo reports grants for Lung Cancer
Research Foundation-Pfizer Grant 2019 NHI U54 grant (Project co-leader); He has received personal fees for attending advisory board with Inivata, ArcherDx, EMD Serono, BMS, Novartis, Boston
Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Mirati, and Eisai; fee for speaking bureau: MSD, Astra Zeneca, Roche, and GuardantHealth; Participation in Safety Monitoring Board for EMD Serono Non-financial
conflict included research collaboration: GuardantHealth. Dr. Drilon reports Honoraria/Advisory Boards from Ignyta/Genentech/Roche, Loxo/Bayer/Lilly, Takeda/Ariad/Millenium, TP Therapeutics,
AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Blueprint Medicines, Helsinn, Beigene, BergenBio, Hengrui Therapeutics, Exelixis, Tyra Biosciences, Verastem, MORE Health, Abbvie, 14ner/Elevation Oncology, Remedica
Ltd., ArcherDX, Monopteros, Novartis, EMD Serono, Melendi, Liberum, Repare RX; Associated Research to Institution from Pfizer, Exelixis, GlaxoSmithKlein, Teva, Taiho, PharmaMar; Royalties
from Wolters Kluwer; Other from Merck, Puma, Merus, Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr. Russo reports consultancy for Astra Zeneca, MSD, and Novartis outside the submitted work. Dr. Stinchcombe
reports personal fees from Takeda, AstraZeneca, Genentech/Roche, Foundation Medicine, Pfizer, EMD Serono, Novartis, Daiichi Sankyo, Lilly, Medtronic, Puma Biotechnology, Janssen Oncology,
Regeneron, non-financial support from Genentech/Roche, Blueprint Medicines, AstraZeneca, Takeda, Advaxis, Regeneron, outside the submitted work. Dr. Vidula reports institutional research
funding from Radius, Merck, Daehwa, Pfizer (and travel), and Novartis; advisory board from AbbVie; Dr. Price is an employee and stock holder of Guardant Health. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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al._ _NTRK1_ Fusions identified by non-invasive plasma next-generation sequencing (NGS) across 9 cancer types. _Br J Cancer_ 126, 514–520 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-021-01536-1
Download citation * Received: 25 April 2021 * Revised: 10 August 2021 * Accepted: 20 August 2021 * Published: 03 September 2021 * Issue Date: 01 February 2022 * DOI:
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