• Xiaoyuan Fan, Jiakai Zhang, and Dewen Lu.
• Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated People's Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2023 Feb 10; 102 (6): e32939e32939.

BackgroundCirculating tumor DNA (ctDNA) positivity has been shown to suggest the presence of minimally residual tumor cells in numerous investigations. We aimed to assess the prognostic value of ctDNA positivity for recurrence-free survival in patients with early-stage colorectal cancer after radical surgery and following adjuvant chemotherapy.MethodsWe systematically reviewed studies published in English until August 15, 2022, concerning ctDNA and tumor-node-metastasis I to III colorectal cancer after surgery, and quantified the correlation between ctDNA positivity and early-stage (tumor-node-metastasis stage I-III) colorectal cancer using meta-analysis methods.ResultsIn total, the meta-analysis comprised 1713 patients from 6 studies. Patients with ctDNA-positive colorectal cancer after surgery had a significantly higher risk of recurrence than patients with ctDNA-negative colorectal cancer (hazard ratio 4.64, 95% confidence interval 2.17-9.92, z = 3.96; P < .001). After adjuvant chemotherapy, patients who were ctDNA-positive had a significantly higher risk of recurrence than those who were ctDNA-negative (hazard ratio 7.27, 95% confidence interval 4.50-11.75, z = 8.1; P < .001).ConclusionsCtDNA positivity may potentially be a predictor for early-stage colorectal tumor recurrence following surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy.Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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