Cabel L, Jeannot E, et al. | Clin Cancer Res. 2018 | N=33 53
A proof-of-concept study of 33 stage II–III ASCC patients undergoing definitive CRT. Of 18 patients evaluable for post-CRT ctHPVDNA status, 3 had detectable ctDNA. All 3 developed rapid metastatic relapse within a median of 4.3 months. Of the 15 ctDNA-negative patients, only 1 (7%) relapsed. Disease-free survival was strongly associated with post-CRT ctDNA status (p<0.0001). This was the first study to establish post-CRT ctHPVDNA as a powerful early indicator of treatment failure in ASCC and remains the foundational evidence for molecular residual disease monitoring in this disease.
Bernard-Tessier A, Jeannot E, et al. | Clin Cancer Res. 2019 | N=59 54
A prospective ancillary study to a phase II trial of DCF chemotherapy in 59 advanced HPV16+ ASCC patients. Post-chemotherapy ctDNA was the strongest independent predictor of progression-free survival (HR 5.5; 95% CI 2.1–14.3; p<0.001) and 1-year overall survival (87% in ctDNA-undetectable vs. 50% in ctDNA-detectable patients; OR 7.0; p=0.02), retaining significance in multivariate analysis. This study validated ctHPVDNA as a biomarker of chemotherapy response in advanced ASCC and established the magnitude of the survival gap between molecular responders and non-responders.
Huffman BM, Singh H, Ali LR, et al. | J Immunother Cancer. 2024 | N=32 45
A phase II clinical trial and long-term responder cohort analysis of pembrolizumab in advanced ASCC. A decrease in TTMV Score at 3 weeks was associated with clinical benefit (p=0.008); at 6 weeks, median PFS was 3.0 vs. 0.7 months for declining vs. rising TTMV (HR 0.37; p=0.04), enabling early identification of pembrolizumab non-responders before clinical or radiographic deterioration. In one complete responder, TTMV-HPV DNA became undetectable 18 weeks before radiographic CR was confirmed at week 45.
Kabarriti R, Lloyd S, Jabalee J, et al. | Cancers (Basel). 2025 | N=117 ⁴
In the post-treatment surveillance cohort, 76% of patients who were TTMV-positive at pre-treatment showed resolution of detectable TTMV within 3 months of completing CRT. TTMV resolution correlated with significantly better recurrence-free survival (log-rank p<0.0001), confirming that post-CRT TTMV clearance is a meaningful biological endpoint. This study also links pre-treatment and during-treatment data: the pre-treatment baseline is the reference point against which post-treatment clearance or persistence is measured, underscoring the importance of baseline testing before therapy begins.