AccScience Publishing / IMO / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IMO026260047
Cite this article
16
Views
Related Info Links
More by Authors Links
Journal Browser
Volume | Year
Issue
Search
News and Announcements
View All
PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE

Beyond tumor DNA: Establishing OncoMRD BREAST as a novel cell-free mRNA biomarker of breast tumor activity for minimal residual disease monitoring

Chen Yeh1*
Show Less
1 OncoDxRx, Los Angeles, CA , United States of America
Received: 26 June 2026 | Revised: 1 September 2026 | Accepted: 1 September 2026 | Published online: 9 September 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring in breast cancer has largely relied on circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)-based technologies, which are constrained by low tumor DNA shedding and potential confounding from clonal hematopoiesis and healthy tissues. To address these limitations, the OncoMRD BREAST assay, an 11-gene cell-free mRNA (cfmRNA)-based panel, has been developed to measure tumor biological activity rather than tumor-derived DNA fragments. To establish biological, clinical, and translational validity for broader, mutation-agnostic MRD monitoring in breast cancer, OncoMRD BREAST was evaluated across multiple independent validation frameworks, including six breast cancer cohorts comprising >5,600 patients, nine validated breast cancer gene signatures, four independent single-cell RNA sequencing datasets encompassing 595,514 cells and 110 annotated cell populations and 62 patient-derived xenograft (PDX) and three-dimensional (3D) organoid models. Retrospective studies demonstrated significant correlations with breast cancer clinical phenotypes and strong concordance with established commercial prognostic assays despite minimal gene overlap. Single-cell analyses revealed robust OncoMRD BREAST gene overexpression within malignant epithelial compartments, immune populations including neutrophils, T cells, and macrophages, and normal-adjacent tissues consistent with field cancerization biology. Across translational model systems, the OncoMRD BREAST gene signature demonstrated good reproducibility with strong performance in PDX and organoid platforms. The convergence of clinical, molecular, single-cell, spatial, and translational evidence establishes OncoMRD BREAST as a novel cfmRNA biomarker of breast tumor activity. By capturing tumor-, immune-, and microenvironment-associated transcriptional programs, OncoMRD BREAST offers a biologically relevant and potentially complementary approach to ctDNA-based MRD monitoring, supporting a new paradigm of functional residual disease assessment in breast cancer.

Keywords
Minimal residual disease
OncoMRD BREAST
Cell-free mRNA
Single-cell spatial transcriptomics
Three-dimensional models
Tumor activity
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest.
References
  1. Bartolomucci A, Nobrega M, Ferrier T, et al. Circulating tumor DNA to monitor treatment response in solid tumors and advance precision oncology. npj Precis Onc. 2025;9(1). doi: 10.1038/s41698-025-00876-y
  2. Nader-Marta G, Monteforte M, Agostinetto E, et al. Circulating tumor DNA for predicting recurrence in patients with operable breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. ESMO Open. 2024;9(3):102390. doi: 10.1016/j.esmoop.2024.102390
  3. Tegeler CM, Hartkopf AD, Banys-Paluchowski M, Krawczyk N, Fehm T, Jaeger BAS. circulating tumor DNA in early and metastatic breast cance—current role and what is coming next. Cancers. 2024;16(23):3919. doi: 10.3390/cancers16233919
  4. You H, He J, Tian T. Accuracy of ctDNA-based minimal residual disease detection in predicting postoperative recurrence of breast cancer: a meta-analysis. Front Oncol. 2026;16. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2026.1735752
  5. Black JRM, Bartha G, Abbott CW, et al. Ultrasensitive ctDNA detection for preoperative disease stratification in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma. Nat Med. 2025;31(1):70-76. doi: 10.1038/s41591-024-03216-y
  6. Lawson ARJ, Abascal F, Nicola PA, et al. Somatic mutation and selection at population scale. Nature. 2025;647(8089):411-420. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09584-w
  7. Yeh C, Breen X, Mercer A, Lin ST. OncoMRD BREAST for monitoring minimal residual disease in breast cancer: A megadata large-scale retrospective clinical correlation study. Preprints.org. Preprint posted online May 27, 2026. doi: 10.20944/preprints202605.1803.v1
  8. Liang Y, Chen WM, Zhang Y, Li L. Remodeling the tumor dormancy ecosystem to prevent recurrence and metastasis. Sig Transduct Target Ther. 2026;11(1). doi: 10.1038/s41392-025-02328-2
  9. Tufail M, Jiang CH, Li N. Tumor dormancy and relapse: understanding the molecular mechanisms of cancer recurrence. Military Med Res. 2025;12(1). doi: 10.1186/s40779-025-00595-2
  10. Cagney DN, Sul J, Huang RY, Ligon KL, Wen PY, Alexander BM. The FDA NIH Biomarkers, EndpointS, and other Tools (BEST) resource in neuro-oncology. Neuro-Oncology. 2017;20(9):1162-1172. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/nox242
  11. Ekhtiari H, Sangchooli A, Fornito A, Fox MD. Targeting biomarkers and the FDA’s Biomarker Qualification Framework. JAMA Psychiatry. 2026;83(6):555. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2026.0590
  12. Ohara S, Suda K. Current status and future challenges of liquid biopsy. Cells. 2025;14(24):2000. doi: 10.3390/cells14242000
  13. Yeh C, Lai HC, Grabbe N, Willett X, Lin ST. Revolutionizing detection of minimal residual disease in breast cancer using patient-derived gene signature. Onco. 2025;5(3):35. doi: 10.3390/onco5030035
  14. Shibuki T, Yamashita R, Hashimoto T, et al. Clinical development of molecular residual disease (MRD) and multi-cancer early detection (MCED) using liquid biopsy multiomics with artificial intelligence (AI). Int J Clin Oncol. 2026;31(5):843-850. doi: 10.1007/s10147-026-03001-6
  15. Simancas-Racines D, Román-Galeano NM, Vásquez JP, Jima Gavilanes D, Vijayan R, Reytor-González C. Liquid biopsy and multi-omic biomarkers in breast cancer: innovations in early detection, therapy guidance, and disease monitoring. Biomedicines. 2025;13(12):3073. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines13123073
  16.  
Share
Back to top
Innovative Medicines & Omics, Electronic ISSN: 3060-8740 Print ISSN: 3060-8910, Published by AccScience Publishing