{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T16:54:08Z","timestamp":1780505648557,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,9]],"date-time":"2026-05-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778284800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778544000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":3,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"Universit\u00e4tsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein - Campus Kiel"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J Cancer Res Clin Oncol"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Risk stratification to guide adjuvant treatment in early stages of melanoma becomes increasingly important. This study investigated circulating tumor (ct)DNA in early melanoma stages to predict disease progression in real-world settings in German melanoma patients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In this retrospective, single-center study, 61 patients with melanoma stages I-III with known disease-progression following primary diagnosis were included. Patients were requested to have baseline serum samples\u2009\u2264\u20094\u00a0weeks after diagnosis and\u2009\u2265\u200912\u00a0weeks preceding disease progression. In ctDNA isolated from 185 serum samples matching inclusion criteria, BRAF V600E\/K, NRAS Q61K\/L\/R and TERT promoter mutations were quantified and correlated with serum levels of S100 and LDH.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Mutated ctDNA was detected in\u2009\u2265\u20091sample in 43 of 53 patients (81.13%). CtDNA was more sensitive in the prediction of melanoma relapse than established biomarker S100, LDH (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009&lt;\u20090.001) and both LDH\/S100 (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009&lt;\u20090.001). Highest mean ctDNA was measured during shift of stage III to stage IV disease (24.25 cps\/\u00b5L) and shift within stage III (12.42 cps\/\u00b5L). The detection of ctDNA at any time point trended towards shorter overall survival.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our study demonstrates the superiority of ctDNA harboring melanoma specific mutations over LDH and S100 in identifying patients at risk for recurrence in early melanoma stages in a single center cohort of melanoma patients. Future prospective trials are warranted to confirm this.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00432-026-06478-w","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,9]],"date-time":"2026-05-09T11:14:34Z","timestamp":1778325274000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Sensitivity and prognostic significance of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in stage I to III malignant melanoma"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"152","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3234-4281","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ann-Sophie","family":"Bohne","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marilena","family":"Heber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Franziska","family":"Axt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nikolas","family":"von Bubnoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katharina","family":"K\u00e4hler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"6478_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1158\/1078-0432.CCR-25-3643","author":"G Ansstas","year":"2026","unstructured":"Ansstas G, Khaddour K, Sudhaman S et al (2026) Longitudinal ctDNA monitoring for post-surgical disease surveillance in patients with stage I-IIIB melanoma. 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Mrs Heber has no conflicts of interest to report. Dr K\u00e4hler serves as consultant to Philogen, BMS, MSD, Sanofi Aventis, Immunocore and received travel grants and speaker fees from Philogen, Pierre Fabre, BMS, MSD, Sun Pharma, Sanofi Aventis, Novartis, Medac. Dr von Bubnoff received honoraria from Janssen, Novartis and BMS and travel expenses from Janssen.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Conflict of interests"}},{"value":"An abstract containing part of the submitted data has been presented as poster at the DGHO Meeting in 2022 and at the ADO meeting in 2022.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Prior presentation"}},{"value":"The study was performed in line with the principlesof the Declaration of Helsinki.\u00a0This study was approved by the ethics committee Kiel (Ethics vote D 431\/06).","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethical approval"}},{"value":"Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.","order":5,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent to participate"}}],"article-number":"106"}}