Patient Handout on Use of ctDNA for Monitoring the Response to Checkpoint Inhibitors
This downloadable handout, Is Immunotherapy Working for Me? What a Blood Draw Can Reveal, provides information for patients about the use of the Signatera™ test for monitoring the response to checkpoint inhibitors. Using plain language and a medical metaphor, the handout explains how cancer cells shed ctDNA and how the test can be used to monitor ctDNA in the blood. It explains how the test is set up using the patient’s personalized tumor characteristics and how that enables convenient blood monitoring over time. The handout also illustrates how the test can be used to address pseudoprogression, inform the choice of monotherapy vs combination therapy, and assist in the decision of whether to discontinue therapy.
We wish to thank Jill Weberding, MPH, BSN, RN, OCN, for her expert contributions to this educational material.