A big thank you to all collaborators, patients, and funding organizations who made this work possible. #BladderCancer #UrothelialCarcinoma #OncologyResearch #PrecisionMedicine #CirculatingTumorDNA #CancerBiomarkers #ClinicalTrials #MSK

📚 What’s Next:
As the treatment landscape for mUC evolves, integrating ctDNA biomarkers into clinical practice could redefine how we approach therapy selection and trial design.

💡 Why: These findings highlight the potential of ctDNA as a non-invasive tool for real-time tumor profiling and prognostication in advanced bladder cancer. These biomarkers could guide clinical trial stratification and help identify patients who may benefit from novel therapies if validated.

- While DNA damage response (DDR) gene alterations (e.g., ERCC2) have shown promise in localized bladder cancer, their prognostic value in the metastatic setting remains inconclusive due to low frequency in this cohort.

- Alterations in specific genes like TERT, PIK3CA, and ERBB2 were linked to poor prognosis, even after adjusting for clinical factors.

🔬 Key Findings:
- High pretreatment variant allele frequency (VAF) in ctDNA is associated with shorter overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).