20 Abstracts at AACR Highlight Scale, Innovation and Clinical Impact of Natera’s Oncology Platform

Key Terms

molecular residual disease (MRD) medical

Molecular residual disease (MRD) is the tiny number of cancer cells that remain in a patient after treatment, detected by highly sensitive genetic or molecular tests that can find one cancer cell among thousands or millions of normal cells. MRD matters to investors because it helps predict the chance of relapse and influences whether additional treatment is given; MRD signals are increasingly used as early clinical trial or regulatory endpoints, so positive or negative MRD results can materially affect the market value of diagnostics and therapies—similar to an early warning that shapes future decisions.

real-world evidence (RWE) medical

Real-world evidence (RWE) is information about how drugs, devices or medical practices perform based on data collected outside controlled clinical trials, such as electronic health records, insurance claims, patient registries or wearable devices. For investors, RWE matters because it can reveal how a treatment works in everyday use, influence regulatory and reimbursement decisions, and reduce uncertainty about a product’s market potential—think of it as seeing how a product performs in customers’ homes versus a lab demonstration.

circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) medical

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) are tiny fragments of genetic material shed by cancer cells into the bloodstream, detectable with a blood test often called a liquid biopsy. For investors, ctDNA matters because it can enable earlier, less invasive detection of cancer, track how well treatments are working, and guide drug development and diagnostic products—factors that can drive demand, regulatory decisions, and company valuations in oncology-related markets.

immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) medical

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are a class of cancer drugs that help the body’s immune system recognize and attack tumor cells by removing molecular “brakes” that normally limit immune responses. They matter to investors because their clinical trial results, regulatory approvals, safety profiles and patent status can drive large changes in drug sales, company valuations and partnership or acquisition activity, similar to how a blockbuster product can reshape a company’s revenue outlook.

microsatellite instability-high medical

Microsatellite instability-high (MSI-high) describes a tumor characteristic where the cell’s DNA error-correction system is broken, so short repeated DNA sequences accumulate many mistakes—like a spellchecker failing and leaving lots of typos. Investors care because MSI-high cancers often respond differently to certain therapies, shape clinical trial eligibility and regulatory decisions, and can influence a drug’s market opportunity and valuation.

area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) technical

Area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) measures how well a test or predictive model can tell apart two possible outcomes, such as sick versus healthy or default versus repay. Think of it like the accuracy of a metal detector: a higher AUROC means the tool more reliably finds true signals and ignores noise, so investors can judge whether a diagnostic, risk model, or algorithm is likely to produce useful, trustable signals for decisions (0.5 = chance, 1.0 = perfect).

digital pathology medical

Digital pathology is the process of converting traditional microscope slides into high-resolution digital images and using software, cloud systems, and sometimes AI to view, analyze, store and share those images. It matters to investors because it can speed diagnosis, enable remote consultations, reduce laboratory bottlenecks and create software-driven services and recurring revenue—like the shift from film to digital photography, unlocking scale, efficiency and new monetization opportunities in healthcare.

machine learning technical

Machine learning is a set of computer programs that learn patterns from large amounts of data and improve their predictions or decisions over time, like a recipe that gets better each time it’s adjusted based on taste tests. For investors it matters because these systems can speed up analysis, spot trends or risks humans might miss, automate routine work, and potentially create competitive advantages or cost savings that affect a company’s performance.

Data from >75,000 patients underscore advances in AI-driven virtual genomics, Signatera™-guided treatment monitoring, and continued expansion of MRD and other capabilities

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRA) a global leader in cell-free DNA and precision medicine, today announced that 20 abstracts, including two oral presentations, featuring data generated using its technologies will be presented at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research^® (AACR) Annual Meeting 2026, taking place April 17–22 in San Diego, CA.

These presentations, developed in collaboration with leading academic and clinical partners, span multiple tumor types and applications, including artificial intelligence, digital pathology, molecular residual disease (MRD) and real-world evidence (RWE).

“These presentations reflect both the scale of our platform and the pace of innovation we’re driving across oncology,” said Alexey Aleshin, M.D., corporate chief medical officer and general manager, oncology and early cancer detection at Natera. “From AI-enabled genomic insights to real-world evidence supporting ctDNA-guided treatment decisions, this body of work demonstrates how we are continuing to innovate within and beyond MRD to deliver more precise, data-driven approaches across cancer care.”

Key highlights

Artificial Intelligence

• Natera’s oral presentation, A large-scale, multi-target deep learning model for virtual genomic profiling in colorectal cancer, describes a digital pathology deep learning model trained on molecular and histopathology data from more than 45,000 colorectal cancer patients in a first-of-its-kind analysis. The model predicts risk of recurrence, hundreds of genomic alterations and key guideline biomarkers directly from routine H&E images, with an industry-leading area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) of 0.98 for MSI-status and 0.93 for BRAF V600E status. This highlights the potential to transform routine pathology slides into a scalable, AI-enabled genomic profiling platform, expanding access to high-value molecular data, reducing tissue constraints and accelerating time to treatment decisions.
• An additional poster in breast cancer, A machine learning approach to classify breast cancer receptor subtype using genomic features, analyzed data from nearly 20,000 patients. The study concluded that a machine learning model using tumor DNA can accurately classify breast cancer into its major subtypes, including high precision of 93.5% and recall of 91.1% for identifying HR+/HER2- disease.

ctDNA Decision-Making

• A second oral presentation, Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) clearance dynamics in microsatellite instability-high metastatic (MSI-H) colorectal cancer (CRC) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), includes a real-world analysis of 465 patients with MSI-H metastatic CRC treated with ICI. The data shows that ~40% of patients had early ctDNA clearance on ICI. Signatera negativity at the first post-ICI timepoint was predictive of overall survival (OS), with 3-year OS of 96%. Moreover, MRD dynamics were strongly associated with improved OS with 65% of Signatera-positive patients achieving clearance anytime on or post-ICI.

Platform Expansion

• A poster on Natera’s methylation-based, tissue-free MRD platform entitled, Quantification of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in patients using cancer-specific, methylation-based, tissue-free tests for the detection of molecular residual disease (MRD), shows that quantitative ctDNA levels strongly correlate with Signatera quantitative levels across colorectal, breast, lung and bladder cancers. Latitude^TM, Natera’s tissue-free MRD assay, launched in CRC in 2025 and is expected to launch commercially in additional histologies with quantitative features later this year.
• A poster in early cancer detection, Performance of a blood-based screening test for the early detection of advanced precancerous lesions, summarizes previously announced PROCEED trial data that showed strong performance of Natera’s blood-based screening assay for detecting advanced precancerous lesions. The study demonstrated sensitivity of 22.5% (CI: 15.4%-32.4%) and specificity of 91.5% (CI: 88.2%-93.9%)​​ and encompassed all histologic subtypes, including serrated polyps.

A full list of abstracts is included here.

About Natera

Natera™ is a global leader in cell-free DNA and precision medicine, dedicated to oncology, women’s health, and organ health. We aim to make personalized genetic testing and diagnostics part of the standard-of-care to protect health and inform earlier, more targeted interventions that help lead to longer, healthier lives. Natera’s tests are supported by more than 400 peer-reviewed publications that demonstrate excellent performance. Natera operates ISO 13485-certified and CAP-accredited laboratories certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) in Austin, Texas, and San Carlos, California, and through Foresight Diagnostics, its subsidiary, operates an ISO 27001-certified and CAP-accredited laboratory certified under CLIA in Boulder, Colorado. For more information, visit www.natera.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements and are not a representation that Natera’s plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements represent Natera’s expectations as of the date of this press release, and Natera disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including with respect to our efforts to develop and commercialize new product offerings, whether the results of clinical or other studies will support the use of our product offerings, the impact of results of such studies, our expectations of the reliability, accuracy, and performance of our tests, or of the benefits of our tests and product offerings to patients, providers, and payers. Additional risks and uncertainties are discussed in greater detail in "Risk Factors" in Natera’s recent filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, and in other filings Natera makes with the SEC from time to time. These documents are available at www.natera.com/investors and www.sec.gov.

This release is not affiliated with or endorsed by AACR.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260407837545/en/

Investor Relations: Mike Brophy, CFO, Natera, Inc., investor@natera.com
Media: Lesley Bogdanow, VP of Corporate Communications, Natera, Inc., pr@natera.com

Source: Natera, Inc.