Advances in the detection and characterization of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) have enabled the introduction of "liquid biopsies" into clinical practice. Results from ctDNA testing of patients with certain advanced tumors (e.g., non-small cell lung cancer) are routinely used to inform decisions about drug treatment. With technological advances that improve the sensitivity of detection of ctDNA, a logical application is to apply ctDNA testing to potentially curable malignancies in patients who are at high risk of harboring minimal/molecular residual disease (MRD).
SHERLOCK is a platform study for the analysis of MRD using ctDNA in patients treated with curative intent for cancer. Exploratory and correlative analyses will also be conducted in order to investigate improved methods for MRD detection and interpretation. Clinical annotation will be performed to collect relevant patient and disease characteristics, treatment and outcomes.
Patients who are determined to be MRD positive may proceed to participate in interception clinical trials that are outside of this study's specified investigations. While on treatment, patients will continue to have blood and radiological imaging collected to measure for clearance of MRD and to correlate with outcomes.
Additional information about the SHERLOCK study is available at https://www.uhn.ca/sherlock.
