TRACERx (Tracking Cancer Evolution through therapy (Rx)) lung study is the single biggest investment in lung cancer research by Cancer Research UK. ArcherDX and UCL present new data from a collaboration between our TRACERx investigators (led by our Chief Clinician Professor Charles Swanton and Group Leader at UCL and the Francis Crick Institute) and ArcherDX to detect evidence of disease progression in lung cancer patients from cell-free circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) as part of our TRACERx study. ArcherDX’s Personalized Cancer Monitoring (PCM) development program is being developed by ArcherDX and is supported by this collaboration.

 

BOULDER, Colo. and LONDON, April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ArcherDX, Inc., UCL and the Francis Crick Institute today announced new data from their research collaboration as part of the Cancer Research UK-funded UCL-sponsored TRACERx study. Based on the on-going collaboration between ArcherDX and UCL, utilizing ArcherDX’s AMPTM technology, the data demonstrated cancer circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) monitoring for minimal residual disease (MRD) can detect relapse of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) earlier than standard of care imaging surveillance in some instances. Post-operative timepoints were analyzed from 90 TRACERx patients. In patients whose cancer had relapsed and shed ctDNA, the ctDNA was detected at or before relapse with a median lead-time, or time from ctDNA detection to clinical relapse, of 164 days (range: 6 to 1022 days) in the TRACERx study tracking a median of 200 variants per patient. Furthermore, in non-relapse patients, the assay demonstrated 99.3% clinical specificity within the research data set. Results from the analytical validation of a 50-variant version of the research assay demonstrated 100% specificity with detection down to 0.003% variant fractions at high cell-free (cfDNA) input levels.i

With more sensitive detection of ctDNA for MRD as a biomarker, it is possible for adjuvant clinical trials to be conducted in smaller and more relevant settings by only escalating therapy in patients who are set to relapse, thereby potentially reducing trial size, cost and time. The full results of the analysis will now be presented today at 2:30 p.m. ET during the 2020 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual Annual Meeting (abstract #2025).[i]

“Specificity is a critical and under-appreciated requisite of frequent disease monitoring,” said Christopher Abbosh, M.D., Principal Clinical Fellow, UCL. “Data from a 50-variant version of the research assay demonstrates a variant detection limit of 0.003% at high cfDNA input levels while maintaining 100% variant analytical specificity. Together, with our collaborators, we aim to establish an MRD approach to treating early-stage NSCLC in order to determine which patients are likely to relapse and overcome challenges associated with conventional adjuvant therapy trial design. We believe this approach will provide an opportunity to expand precision oncology into early-stage cancer, when the cancer is typically easier to cure.”

ArcherDX’s Personalized Cancer Monitoring (PCM) development program is being developed by ArcherDX and is supported by a collaboration led by Professor Charles Swanton of UCL and the Francis Crick Institute to detect evidence of disease progression in lung cancer patients from cell-free ctDNA as part of the Cancer Research UK-funded UCL-sponsored TRACERx study. PCM applies Archer’s proprietary Anchored Multiplex PCR (AMP™) technology to accurately detect exceedingly low levels of cancer-derived DNA from patient blood.

“There remains a stark unmet need to improve the current adjuvant standard of care and outcomes in patients with solid tumours,” said Jason Myers, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, ArcherDX. “Key to reducing patient burden in cancer treatment is a minimally invasive assay that enables tracking disease recurrence at the earliest possible time point directly at the patient’s care setting. We are thrilled to collaborate with the UCL team, which aligns closely with ArcherDX’s mission to bring the right test to the right patient at the right time.”

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide and a leading cause of cancer-related death.[ii] NSCLC is the most common type of lung cancer[iii] and has a complex genomic landscape.[iv]