We investigated the plasma levels of tumor-specific cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in 17 stage I-II (early) and IV (advanced) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who underwent radiotherapy. Digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and targeted sequencing showed that total and tumor-specific cfDNA levels increased in response to radiotherapy in both early- and advanced-stage NSCLC patients. We detected high copy numbers of epidermal growth factor receptor mutations (L858R and T790M) in the cfDNA samples from stage IV NSCLC patients who underwent stereotactic body radiation therapy to treat brain metastasis related to tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment failure. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that radiotherapy increases tumoral cfDNA levels in the plasma and shows potential to serve as an indicator for diagnosing drug-resistant tumor-related gene mutations in early-stage NSCLC patients or those undergoing molecular targeted therapy.
Keywords: NSCLC; digital PCR; radiotherapy; tumor-specific mutations; tumoral cell-free DNA.