The concept of liquid biopsy was introduced in the field of cancer diagnostics in 2010. It refers to the probing of easily-accessible body fluids (mainly blood, but also cerebrospinal fluid, urine, sputum, ascites, or other) for circulating tumor-derived cells, extracellular vesicles, or molecules that can convey information about disease status and prognosis, patient stratification, and responses to treatment[1].
The reliable analysis and interpretation of liquid biopsy relies on the development of highly sensitive detection methods and discovery of tumor-specific markers, and involves several challenges. Current challenges in the field and future directions are discussed by key experts through an article collection. You may refer to these open access articles for more information on: circulating tumor cells[2],[3]; circulating tumor DNA[4]; liquid biopsy monitoring epigenetic markers[5]; analysis of DNA in extracellular vesicles[6]; challenges in the clinical application of plasma protein biomarkers[7]; and platelets as liquid biopsy sources for cancer detection[8].
[1] Alix-Panabiéres C, Pantel K (2021) Liquid biopdy: from discovery to clinical implementation. Mol Oncol. 15, 1617– 1621
[2] Vasseur A, Kiavue N, Bidard FC, Pierga JY & Cabel L (2020) Clinical utility of circulating tumor cells: an update. Mol Oncol. 15, 1647– 1666
[3] Labib M & Kelley SO (2021) Circulating tumor cell profiling for precision oncology. Mol Oncol. 15, 1622– 1646
[4] Filipska M & Rosell R (2020) Mutated circulating tumor DNA as a liquid biopsy in lung cancer detection and treatment. Mol Oncol. 15, 1667– 1682
[5] Lianidou E (2020) Detection and relevance of epigenetic markers on ctDNA: recent advances and future outlook. Mol Oncol. 15, 1683– 1700
[6] Elzanowska J, Semira C & Costa-Silva B (2020) DNA in extracellular vesicles: biological and clinical aspects. Mol Oncol. 15, 1701– 1714
[7] Landegren U & Hammond M (2020) Cancer diagnostics based on plasma protein biomarkers: hard times but great expectations. Mol Oncol. 15, 1715– 1726
[8] Antunes-Ferreira M, Koppers-Lalic D & Wurdinger T (2020) Circulating platelets as liquid biopsy sources for cancer detection. Mol Oncol. 15, 1727– 1743
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