{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T21:49:55Z","timestamp":1790804995286,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772582400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) remains a clinically aggressive and lethal disease. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), as a minimally invasive biomarker, has shown prognostic utility in several solid tumors. However, its clinical relevance in mCRPC has not been comprehensively elucidated.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A systematic search of PubMed and EMBASE was conducted from inception to July 2025 to identify studies evaluating the prognostic impact of baseline ctDNA levels in patients with mCRPC. Eligible studies reported associations between ctDNA levels and survival outcomes. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), radiographic PFS (rPFS), and prostate specific antigen PFS (PSA-PFS) using random-effects models.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Twenty-four studies encompassing 5,272 patients met the inclusion criteria. Elevated baseline ctDNA levels were significantly associated with inferior OS (HR: 3.45; 95% CI: 2.77\u20134.31), PFS (HR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.74\u20132.93), rPFS (HR: 2.39; 95% CI: 1.85\u20133.10), and PSA-PFS (HR: 2.50; 95% CI: 1.81\u20133.46). Subgroup analyses showed that the negative prognostic impact of high baseline ctDNA levels on OS remained consistent regardless of detection methods, treatment types, and stratification strategies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>High baseline ctDNA levels\u2014regardless of measurement approach or therapeutic context\u2014are associated with markedly worse clinical outcomes in mCRPC. These findings highlight ctDNA as a clinically meaningful, noninvasive prognostic biomarker, supporting its integration into personalized risk stratification frameworks and therapeutic decision-making in mCRPC.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Systematic Review Registration<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:ext-link>https:\/\/www.crd.york.ac.uk\/prospero\/<\/jats:ext-link>\n                      , identifier CRD420251108650.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1691229","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T06:59:24Z","timestamp":1772607564000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Prognostic value of baseline circulating tumor DNA levels in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yonghe","family":"Liao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuxuan","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy, Guangxi Hospital Division of The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University","place":["Nanning, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bo","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University","place":["Nanjing, Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinhai","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University","place":["Nanjing, Jiangsu, China"]},{"name":"Center for New Drug Safety Evaluation and Research, China Pharmaceutical University","place":["Nanjing, Jiangsu, China"]},{"name":"School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University","place":["Nanjing, Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100962","DOI":"10.1016\/j.drup.2023.100962","article-title":"Current therapy and drug resistance in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer","volume":"68","author":"Cai","year":"2023","journal-title":"Drug Resist Updat"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2209454","article-title":"Prostate cancer screening with PSA and MRI followed by targeted biopsy only","volume":"387","author":"Hugosson","year":"2022","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3238\/arztebl.m2021.0309","article-title":"Imaging of prostate cancer","volume":"118","author":"Schlemmer","year":"2021","journal-title":"Dtsch Arztebl Int"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"84","DOI":"10.1038\/s41698-025-00876-y","article-title":"Circulating tumor DNA to monitor treatment response in solid tumors and advance precision oncology","volume":"9","author":"Bartolomucci","year":"2025","journal-title":"NPJ Precis Oncol"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"336","DOI":"10.1038\/s41392-024-02021-w","article-title":"Liquid biopsy in cancer current: status, challenges and future prospects","volume":"9","author":"Ma","year":"2024","journal-title":"Signal Transduct Target Ther"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.euo.2024.11.008","article-title":"Circulating tumor DNA: A new research frontier in urological oncology from localized to metastatic disease","volume":"8","author":"Garofoli","year":"2025","journal-title":"Eur Urol Oncol"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.annonc.2024.12.006","article-title":"Minimal residual disease in colorectal cancer. 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