GC Genome Study Pinpoints ‘Confounders’ Disrupting Cancer Signals to Enhance Liquid Biopsy Precision

jones
d3386556802047c644595602f8f218f0 GC Genome Study Identifies 'Confounders' Interfering with Cancer Signals to Improve Liquid Biopsy Accuracy

YONGIN, South Korea, Dec. 9, 2025 — GC Genome, a leading clinical genomics and liquid biopsy company, announced that its research analyzing cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragmentation patterns in 1,154 healthy individuals has been published in Clinical Chemistry (Impact Factor 6.3, 2025). The results disclose key physiological factors that can interfere with cancer-associated cfDNA signals, providing a basis for enhancing the accuracy of liquid biopsy tests.

(PRNewsfoto/GC Genome)

The research, carried out in cooperation with Professor Min-Jung Kwon and her team at Kangbuk Samsung Medical Center, investigated the correlations between cfDNA fragmentomic profiles and 65 clinical variables, including age and liver function markers. The objective was to identify potential confounders that could affect cfDNA-based cancer detection in individuals without cancer.

Study Overview

  • Healthy cohort: 1,154 non – cancerous individuals who had routine health check – ups
  • Clinical variables included: 65 demographic, hematologic, and biochemical parameters
  • Three fragmentomic features were obtained: cfDNA concentration, short – fragment ratio (SFR), and frequency of cancer – enriched motifs(CEMs)

Key Findings

  • Liver enzymes (including AST, ALP, γ – GTP) and age were recognized as major factors that change cfDNA fragmentation patterns.
  • Elevated AST or age closely resembled cancer – like fragmentomic signatures, making it difficult to distinguish between non – cancer and cancer profiles.
  • AST showed a high similarity to fragmentation size patterns seen in lung cancer patients (cosine similarity = 0.98).
  • Age showed the highest similarity to cancer – like profiles among clinical variables (cosine similarity = 0.52).
  • Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis confirmed that these physiological variables can act as confounders by reducing the specificity of cfDNA – based detection, possibly resulting in false – positive results.

These findings illustrate that non – cancer physiological factors can influence cfDNA signals, highlighting the necessity for confounder – aware modeling approaches in liquid biopsy development.

A GC Genome spokesperson said:

“This research is significant as it uses large – scale data from healthy individuals to identify key confounders that influence cfDNA fragmentation patterns. These insights will play an important part in refining our Multi – Cancer Early Detection (MCED) test, ai – CANCERCH, especially in reducing false – positive rates and improving test specificity.”

About ai – CANCERCH

Launched in September 2023, ai – CANCERCH is an AI – based multi – cancer early detection (MCED) test powered by Lc – WGS. Using only 10 mL of blood, the test detects signals associated with multiple cancers. A major upgrade—expanding from 6 detectable cancers to 10 cancers (colorectal, lung, esophageal, liver, ovarian, pancreatic, biliary, breast, gastric, and head – and – neck)—is scheduled for January 2026.

About GC Genome

GC Genome is a leading diagnostics company that aims to connect care and cure to the world by offering genetic diagnosis services for Oncology, Pre&Neonatal, Rare Diseases, and Health Check – ups and suggesting personalized treatment for longer and healthier lives. Established in 2013 as a GC company, GC Genome operates a CAP – accredited laboratory and places the greatest emphasis on R&D. With firm partnerships established worldwide, GC Genome has shown remarkable growth momentum, continuously expanding our testing capacities.

GC Biopharma Contacts (Media)

Sohee Kim

Yelin Jun

Yoonjae Na

SOURCE GC Genome

jones