Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) are known to provide additional and complementary gene variant data compared to cell free DNA (cfDNA) alone1,2
Combined assessment of both analytes can provide additional and complementary information that could inform personalised treatment decisions and is called a dual analysis approach. This has the potential to make substantive improvements in patient care.
ANGLE has developed a single blood tube, next-generation sequencing (NGS) workflow that enables highly sensitive dual analysis of CTC-DNA and (cfDNA) across a large gene panel. ctDNA exists as part of cfDNA, so this protocol ensures that ctDNA is accounted for in the analysis.
By integrating this DNA dual analysis workflow, ANGLE aims to advance research-use applications in tracking tumour evolution, monitoring treatment response, and detecting drug resistance, providing deeper insights into cancer biology through liquid biopsy analysis.
DNA dual analysis has the potential to identify a broader range of clinically actionable biomarkers for the treatment of patients in multiple cancer types. Molecular profiling of cfDNA and CTC-DNA could help the clinician track tumour evolution to inform treatment decisions, monitor response to treatment, identify drug resistance mechanisms and identify disease progression earlier1-6.
Mutations found in CTC-DNA and cfDNA alone and in both (overlap) in lung cancer patient blood samples
Watch the webinarIllumina NGS assay workflow
ANGLE has developed a workflow integrating its Parsortix® system with Illumina’s sequencing technology and assay, enabling the dual genomic profiling of CTCs and cfDNA from a single blood sample. This approach provides a comprehensive molecular profile of cancers, enhancing the detection of clinically relevant mutations that may otherwise be missed by cfDNA alone.
Key findings presented at Illumina & ANGLE joint webinar7:
ANGLE presented results from this assay at Illumina’s webinar, highlighting its strong performance in detecting clinically relevant mutations:
◆ In 8 untreated lung cancer patients: 100% had cancer mutations identified in CTC-DNA.
◆ In 19 treated lung cancer patients: 90% had cancer mutations identified in CTC-DNA.
◆ Enhanced mutation detection: DNA dual analysis identified twice as many mutations compared to cfDNA analysis alone, reinforcing the importance of including CTC-DNA to avoid missing clinically relevant mutations.
Find out more about the use of the Parsortix system for dual CTC-DNA and cfDNA analysis
Download our free Application Note
Enter your details to download a copy of our application note, "DNA Dual Analysis of CTC-derived DNA and cfDNA using ANGLE's Parsortix System and Illumina's Cell-Free DNA Prep with Enrichment Kit"
Additional resources related to NGS
Posters
Detection of circulating tumor cells from glioblastoma patients blood samples
ANGLE Europe Limited, Guildford, UK, published at ACTC Meeting 2025
Presentations
February, 2025
Complementary insights: Exploring the dual analysis of circulating tumour cells and circulating DNA
References:
1. Keller, L. & Pantel, K. Nat. Rev. Cancer 19, 553–567 (2019).
2. Markou, A. N. et al. Cancers 15, 1877 (2023).
3. Kong, S. L. et al. Front. Oncol. 11, 698551 (2021).
4. Ntzifa, A., Kotsakis, A., Georgoulias, V. & Lianidou, E. Cancers 13, 2736 (2021).
5. Gorges, K. et al. Cancers 11, (2019).
6. Wishart, G, et al. Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 46, 773–787 (2024).
7. www.angleplc.com/webinars
For Research Use Only. Not For Use In Diagnostic Procedures.