Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Treatment

What is the primary reason why clinicians and surgeons are eager to incorporate liquid biopsy into their practices?

What can be correlated with prognosis and treatment response across many tumor types?

What is the only form of liquid biopsy that has demonstrated clinical utility and has been used to select targeted therapies?

What is emerging evidence suggesting ctDNA can be used for?

What is a characteristic of circulating tumor cells (CTCs)?

What is a significant advantage of liquid biopsies over traditional tissue biopsies?

What is a current clinical application of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in metastatic disease?

What is a promising application of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in early-stage disease?

What is a limitation of using circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in clinical practice?

What is a characteristic of tumors that makes liquid biopsies a valuable tool?

Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Treatment

Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive, potentially transformative tool in oncologic care with multiple clinical applications.
It involves the collection and study of circulating analytes such as tumor-derived cells or cellular products like DNA and RNA.

Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs)

CTCs arise from primary and metastatic tumor sites and are responsible for the development of distant metastases.
Analysis of CTCs allows for genomic and proteomic profiling.
Blood plasma concentrations of CTCs have been correlated with prognosis and treatment response across many tumor types.

Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA)

ctDNA are tumor-specific, cell-free DNA fragments released from dying tumor cells, distinguishable from germline DNA due to somatic genomic alterations, genetic mutations, or methylation patterns.
ctDNA levels correlate with prognostication and treatment response.
ctDNA has demonstrated clinical utility and is used to select targeted therapies.

Advantages of Liquid Biopsy

Minimally invasive nature, avoiding discomfort, complications, and costs associated with biopsy procedures.
Provides an alternative tumor procurement option when tissue biopsies are limited by inaccessible locations, poor cellular viability, and challenges with long-term storage.
Offers unique advantages for novel clinical applications.

Clinical Applications of Liquid Biopsy

Detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) to determine patients at risk for recurrence and guide treatment escalation and de-escalation.
Postoperative ctDNA levels are a strong predictor of disease recurrence, often preceding serum carcinoembryonic antigen elevation and radiographic changes.
Potential use for adjuvant therapy escalation and de-escalation.

This quiz covers the role of liquid biopsy in cancer treatment, including circulating tumor cells and their analysis for genomic and proteomic profiling.