New epigenetic ctDNA test claims ~92% sensitivity
A social post highlighted a new liquid‑biopsy platform using epigenetic signals in circulating DNA that reportedly detects early colorectal cancer with ~92% accuracy and traces tissue of origin—promising tighter integration between molecular assays and cytology workflows. If validated, platforms like this could change how labs triage patients and prioritize molecular testing. (x.com)
Peking University-led authors published "Cell‑free chromatin state tracing reveals disease origin and therapy responses" in Nature (online March 4, 2026; DOI 10.1038/s41586-026-10224-0). (eurekalert.org) The platform, named cf‑EpiTracing, captures multiple histone modifications from plasma cf‑chromatin using antibody‑based enrichment followed by Tn5 tagmentation and paired‑end sequencing on Complete Genomics’ DNBSEQ‑T7. (genomeweb.com) Authors report an automated workflow that profiles cf‑chromatin from trace plasma volumes (sample input cited as low as 50 µL and described as 25–200 µL in workflow optimizations) and generated 2,417 cf‑EpiTracing profiles across cohorts. (medicalxpress.com) In colorectal cancer experiments the model achieved up to 97.6% accuracy in training and 92.2% accuracy in an independent validation cohort, with a reported true detection rate of ~77.3% for colorectal adenomas (precancerous lesions). (medicalxpress.com) cf‑EpiTracing distilled a minimal informative histone‑mark set (H3K9ac, H3K27ac, H3K4me3) for tissue prediction and demonstrated tissue‑of‑origin deconvolution alongside clinical subtyping, including a DLBCL treatment‑response analysis of 141 patients (44 CR, 60 PR, 37 SD reported). (genomeweb.com) The study’s authors note plans for larger multicenter prospective validation and the team has released analysis code and pipelines on a public cf‑EpiTracing GitHub repository to enable independent evaluation. (bynews.bjmu.edu.cn)
