Multimodal cell-free DNA whole-genome TAPS is sensitive and reveals specific cancer signals

This study presents a methodology for detecting circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) using deep whole-genome TET-Assisted Pyridine Borane Sequencing (TAPS), a less destructive alternative to bisulphite sequencing. The method enables simultaneous analysis of genomic and methylomic data for multi-cancer detection and monitoring minimal residual disease. In a diagnostic accuracy study across various cancer types, it achieved 85.3% sensitivity and 88.8% specificity, with validation done using matched tumour biopsies. Additionally, in silico validation showed strong discrimination at low ctDNA levels. The approach also successfully tracks tumour burden and ctDNA shedding from precancerous lesions post-treatment, making it ready for further clinical testing.

Type: Whole Genome Sequencing
Archiver: European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA)

1 Dataset 1 Publication

Click on a Dataset ID in the table below to learn more, and to find out who to contact about access to these data

Dataset ID	Description	Technology	Samples
EGAD50000000996	TAPS data in the form of BAM files from 214 samples: plasma (at 80x) and matched germline (at 30x) pairs from 61 cancer and 30 non-cancer subjects, fresh-frozen matched tumour biopsies (at 80x) from 16 subjects, as well as several follow-up plasma samples (at 80x) from 10 subjects with colorectal cancer.	Illumina NovaSeq 6000	214

Publications	Citations
Multimodal cell-free DNA whole-genome TAPS is sensitive and reveals specific cancer signals. Vavoulis DV, Cutts A, Thota N, Brown J, Sugar R, Rueda A, Ardalan A, Howard K, Matos Santo F, Sannasiddappa T, Miller B, Ash S, Liu Y, Song CX, Nicholson BD, Dreau H, Tregidgo C, Schuh A. Nat Commun 16: 2025 430	0