In the present study, we screened 84 Follicular Lymphoma patients for somatic mutations suitable as liquid biopsy MRD biomarkers using a targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel. We found trackable mutations in 95% of the lymph node samples and 80% of the liquid biopsy baseline samples.Then, we use an ultra-deep sequencing approach with 2 • 10 − 4 sensitivity (LiqBio-MRD) to track those mutations on 156 follow-up liquid biopsy samples from 55 treated patients. Positive LiqBio-MRD correlated with a higher risk of progression both at the interim evaluation (HR 13.0, 95% CI 2.70-63.4, p < 0.001) and at the end of treatment (EOT, HR 14.3, 95% CI 4.4-46.4, p < 0.001). Similar results were observed by PET/CT Deauville score, with a median PFS of 19 months vs. NR (p < 0.001) at the interim and 13 months vs. NR (p < 0.001) at EOT. LiqBio-MRD and PET/CT combined identi ed the patients that progressed in less than two years with 89% sensitivity and 100% speci city. Our results demonstrate that LiqBio-MRD is a robust and non-invasive approach, complementary to metabolic imaging, for identifying FL patients at high risk of failure during the treatment and should be considered in future responseadapted clinical trials.

The screening of the BCR::ABL1 kinase domain (KD) mutation has become a routine analysis in case of warning/failure for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) Philadelphia (Ph)-positive patients. In this study, we present a novel DNA-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) methodology for KD ABL1 mutation detection and monitoring with a 1.0E−4 sensitivity. This approach was validated with a well-stablished RNA-based nested NGS method. The correlation of both techniques for the quantification of ABL1 mutations was high (Pearson r = 0.858, p < 0.001), offering DNA-DeepNGS a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 82%. The clinical impact was studied in a cohort of 129 patients (n = 67 for CML and n = 62 for B-ALL patients). A total of 162 samples (n = 86 CML and n = 76 B-ALL) were studied. Of them, 27 out of 86 harbored mutations (6 in warning and 21 in failure) for CML, and 13 out of 76 (2 diagnostic and 11 relapse samples) did in B-ALL patients. In addition, in four cases were detected mutation despite BCR::ABL1 < 1%. In conclusion, we were able to detect KD ABL1 mutations with a 1.0E−4 sensitivity by NGS using DNA as starting material even in patients with low levels of disease.

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Background:Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is a rapidly evolving technique that simultaneously identifies several somatic mutations and quantifies allele burden. Therefore, it could be suitable for MRD monitoring in MDS patients. Traditionally its main limitations have been high single base error rates, which limited sensibility to 0.1-1%. However, sensitivities up to 10 -4 can be achieved by applying novel ultrasensitive personalized sequencing techniques.