Analysis of paired blood biopsies, tumor tissue as biomarkers for cancer to be presented at ASCO

Liquid biopsy continues to show promise as a practical alternative to tissue testing to detect cancer-driving mutations. 

Rini Pauly, of the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research Molecular Characterization Laboratory, will present results of a recent study comparing mutations found in paired tumors and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), at the 2026 American Society for Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, May 29 to June 2 in Chicago.

The study will be presented in the afternoon poster session on Saturday, May 30.

The research is part of an ongoing analysis of ctDNA collected from patients screened for NCI-MATCH, one of the largest precision medicine platform trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. Researchers performed next-generation sequencing on tumor tissue from 5,954 patients with advanced cancers to determine if they were eligible to participate in the trial.

For this study, the Frederick National Laboratory team partnered with Illumina, Inc. via a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to evaluate blood from 1,148 of the NCI-MATCH patients who had common cancers – colorectal, breast, non-small cell lung and prostate. 

The goal was to characterize ctDNA and determine whether it could be used to detect mutations with corresponding treatments. In 90.3 percent of the cases, the mutations detected in the blood biopsy matched with those found in the tumor tissue.

In discordant samples, those where ctDNA missed mutations detected in the matched tissue, on the median amount of ctDNA circulating in the blood (i.e., the median ctDNA fraction) was much lower than in the concordant samples.

In some cases, the ctDNA results revealed mutations where the tissue biopsy did not. This is likely due to the tumor heterogeneity in advanced cancers, where a single tumor may harbor multiple mutations that a limited tissue biopsy might miss. Data from the ctDNA in the plasma may provide a more comprehensive picture with a less-invasive test.

Dr. Pauly will present her poster at ASCO on Saturday, May 30. 

Details

Abstract Number:  3045 
Abstract Title:  Comprehensive genomic profiling of matched ctDNA and tissue from patients with four common cancers enrolled to the NCI-MATCH trial. 
Poster Board Number: 182 
Presentation Date and Time: May 30, 2026 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. (CDT) 
Location:  Hall A (Exhibits and Posters)