Liquid biopsy reveals collateral tissue damage in cancer
Asael Lubotzky, Hai Zemmour, Daniel Neiman, Marc Gotkine, Netanel Loyfer, Sheina Piyanzin, Bracha-Lea Ochana, Roni Lehmann‐Werman, Daniel Cohen, Joshua Moss, Judith Magenheim, Maureen Loftus, Lauren K. Brais, Kimmie Ng, Raúl Mostoslavsky, Brian M. Wolpin, Aviad Zick, Myriam Maoz, Albert Grinshpun, Anatoli Kustanovich, Chen Makranz, Jonathan Cohen, Tamar Peretz, Ayala Hubert, Mark Temper, Azzam Salah, Shani Avniel-Polak, Simona Grozinsky‐Glasberg, Kirsty L. Spalding, Ariel Rokach, Tommy Kaplan, Benjamin Gläser, Ruth Shemer, Yuval Dor
Abstract
Cancer inflicts damage to surrounding normal tissues, which can culminate in fatal organ failure. Here, we demonstrate that cell death in organs affected by cancer can be detected by tissue-specific methylation patterns of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA). We detected elevated levels of hepatocyte-derived cfDNA in the plasma of patients with liver metastases originating from different primary tumors, compared with cancer patients without liver metastases. In addition, patients with localized pancreatic or colon cancer showed elevated hepatocyte cfDNA, suggesting liver damage inflicted by micrometastatic disease, by primary pancreatic tumor pressing the bile duct, or by a systemic response to the primary tumor. We also identified elevated neuron-, oligodendrocyte-, and astrocyte-derived cfDNA in a subpopulation of patients with brain metastases compared with cancer patients without brain metastasis. Cell type-specific cfDNA methylation markers enabled the identification of collateral tissue damage in cancer, revealing the presence of metastases in specific locations and potentially assisting in early cancer detection.