Research Article: Circulating tumour DNA detects somatic variants contributing to spatial and temporal intra-tumoural heterogeneity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

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Background: As circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) liquid biopsy analysis is increasingly incorporated into modern oncological practice, establishing the impact of genomic intra-tumoural heterogeneity (ITH) upon data output is paramount. Despite advances in other cancer types the evidence base in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains poor. We sought to investigate the utility of ctDNA to detect ITH in HNSCC.