Monitoring CFDNA levels can help better assess the effectiveness of colon cancer surgery

A new research document was published in Oncotarget’s Volume 16 on January 21, 2025, entitled “Evaluation of CFDNA Dynamic release during surgery of colon cancer”.

Researchers at the University of Brasília investigated how CFDNA DNA levels (CFDNA) in blood change before, during and after colon cancer surgery. The study found that CFDNA levels are increasing significantly during and after surgery. The findings indicate that CFDNA could help clinicians evaluate the effectiveness of surgery and monitor the results of patients.

CFDNA consists of small DNA fragments released into the bloodstream when cells die and break. In healthy people, CFDNA usually comes from the normal cell cycle, while in patients with cancer, some of them come from tumor cells. Measurement of CFDNA levels offers valuable knowledge of patients and is already used to monitor the progression of the disease and responding to cancers such as lung cancer, breast and colon.

Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world, affecting millions of people every year. Surgery is often the primary treatment, but up to 50% of patients experience cancer recurrence. In this study, the research team, led by the first author Mailson Alves Lopes and the corresponding author Fabio Pittella-Silva, analyzed blood samples from 30 patients at three main points: before, during and after surgery.

It was found that CFDNA levels increased almost three times more during surgery and doubled after surgery compared to pre-surgery levels. The increases were even higher in people over 60 years of age, those with pre -existing conditions such as diabetes or heart disease and patients with elevated levels of cancerousembryonic antigen (CEA), a common cancer index. Patients with the highest levels of CFDNA were those with larger or more aggressive tumors, probably due to greater tissue damage during surgery. In addition, larger surgeries were associated with higher CFDNA levels.

“[…]We have noticed that the concentration of CFDNA can be increased in the correlation with the duration of surgery, underlining its potential as a surgical quality indicator. “

These findings indicate that CFDNA could be a valuable, non -invasive biomarker for clinicians to monitor patients with colon cancer. Monitoring CFDNA levels can help better evaluate surgical results and determine if patients require closer monitoring.

While these findings are very promising, further research is needed to standardize CFDNA tests and validate its utility. Larger studies could help create CFDNA tests as a reliable cancer care tool and postoperative monitoring, with the ability to become a common part of clinical practice in the future.