Combined DNA Analysis from Stool and Blood Samples Improves Tumor Tracking and Assessment of Clonal Heterogeneity in Localized Rectal Cancer Patients.

In this study, stool samples were evaluated for tumor mutation analysis a targeted next generation sequencing (NGS) approach in a small patient cohort suffering from localized rectal cancer. Colorectal cancer (CRC) causes the second highest cancer-related death rate worldwide. Thus, improvements in disease assessment and monitoring that may facilitate treatment allocation and allow organ-sparing "watch-and-wait" treatment strategies are highly relevant for a significant number of CRC patients.