CRJIM (Clinical and Research Journal in Internal Medicine)
Vol. 7 No. 1: Volume 7 No 1, May 2026

Circulating Tumor DNA: Unravelling the Treatment Response Uncertainty in Lymphoma: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Bulain, Stanley (Unknown)
Setiawan, Aurielle Annalicia (Unknown)
Nestovani, Anggella Christoferisa Ditya (Unknown)
Pamarta, Trisna Belani (Unknown)
Baliulina, Shintya Octaviana (Unknown)
Arifah, Nina Nur (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
29 May 2026

Abstract

Background: Uncertainty in lymphomas treatment response could negatively affect the disease course. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), minimally invasive biomarker, can be useful to monitor treatment response, recurrence, yet minimally invasive. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of ctDNA for predicting early relapse (indicated by progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS)), and for predicting non-complete response (non-CR) in lymphomas. Methods: Comprehensive searches in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Wiley, Springer and Cochrane were conducted. Critical appraisal was conducted using the ROBINS-E tool for cohort and ROB 2.0 randomized controlled trials. hazard ratios (HRs) of pretreatment CtDNA for PFS and OS. The secondary outcome was the risk ratio (RR) of non-CR in detectable posttreatment CtDNA and its diagnostic accuracy analysis. RevMan 5.4 and STATA 17 was used for quantitative analysis. Results: 14 studies (1,144 patients) were included. Higher pretreatment ctDNA significantly increase the risk of worse PFS (HR 2.20, 95% CI 1.41-3.43) and worse OS (2.20, .14-4.26), also with optimal cut-off at 2.5 log10hGE/mL for PFS (2.46, 1.70-3.54) and OS (2.36, 1.30-4.29). The value was also significant in DLBCL, both for PFS (2.46, 1.71-3.55) and OS (2.70, 1.58-4.60), P<0.05 . Detectable posttreatment CtDNA also correlated with non-CR (RR 5.56 95% CI 2.82-10.95), with pooled sensitivities 0.91 (0.71-0.98), specificities 0.76 (0.51-0.90), positive-likelihood ratios 3.74 (1.71-8.19), negative-likelihood ratios 0.12 (0.04-0.39), and area under curve (AUC) 0.91 (0.88 - 0.93). Conclusion: Higher pretreatment CtDNA strongly correlated with the disease progression and survival, specifically at log10hGE/mL. Detectable posttreatment CtDNA were significantly correlated with non-CR.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

crjim

Publisher

Subject

Education Health Professions Immunology & microbiology Medicine & Pharmacology Nursing Public Health Other

Description

Clinical and Research Journal in Internal Medicine is the official open access journal of Internal Medicine Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia. It publishes articles two times per year. It is a peer reviewed publication of ...