Fig. 7: Circulating tumor DNA dynamics during neo-adjuvant treatment.

29 patients were included in the ctDNA analyses. a Relative change in ctDNA level of major responders (green) and minor responders (blue) after one cycle of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (t₁) and after one subsequent cycle of pembro-chemotherapy (t₂) compared to baseline (t₀). b progression-free survival (PFS) and c overall survival (OS) were similar for patients with a decrease in ctDNA of >30% between t₀ and t₂ (orange) compared to patients without a >30% decrease (light blue). Both PFS (two-sided log-rank p = 0.08) and OS (two-sided log-rank p = 0.35) were considered not significantly different. d Number of cases that display a clearance (light blue) or no clearance (orange) of ctDNA pre-surgery among the minor responders and major responders. Improved e PFS (two-sided log-rank p < 0.001) and f OS (two-sided log-rank p < 0.01) was observed for patients with a ctDNA clearance (light blue) compared to patients without a clearance (orange). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.