Episode
From Hereditary Risk to Residual Disease: Natera’s Integrated Vision for Precision Oncology with Adam ElNaggar, MD
- Podcast
- Mendelspod Podcast
- Published
- Jan 28, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2519
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.mendelspod.com/p/from-hereditary-risk-to-residual
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Summary
Half of oncologists in the U.S. are now ordering MRD testing, according to Adam ElNaggar, MD of Natera — but the other half, he says, “are still figuring out how to use it, or that it even exists.” In this episode, we talk with ElNaggar about the rapid rise of ctDNA-based monitoring and how it’s changing the very rhythm of cancer care. From Natera’s “tumor-informed” Signatera TM assay to its new “tissue-free” Latitude TM test, the company is reshaping oncology around the molecular traces that cancer leaves behind. “ctDNA-negative patients have an extremely low likelihood of showing disease on imaging,” he explains. “So rather than scanning every few months, we can tailor follow-up to when it’s actually needed—and spare the anxiety and cost that come with it.” The conversation also covers Natera’s Empower TM hereditary cancer panel, which has expanded testing to all patients with ovarian and endometrial cancer, and a new Hereditary Cancer Alert program that nearly doubled testing rates among eligible patients. ElNaggar describes how hereditary and MRD testing now reinforce one another, helping clinicians catch missed cases and close the loop for families. We finish with a look ahead: a future where ctDNA status becomes a staging element, where clinical trials are shortened by molecular endpoints, and where multi-omic assays—combining DNA, methylation, and protein—push oncology toward truly personalized medicine. “We’re reaching the point,” says ElNaggar, “where staging won’t just be about pathology—it’ll be about biology.” Note about trials mentioned: IMvigor010 compared adjuvant atezolizumab to observation (surveillance) in an unselected muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) population IMvigor011 prospectively randomized only ctDNA-positive MIBC patients to atezolizuma…