engleski

Liquid biopsy for patients with cancer: different approaches and clinical applications

Treatment of cancer patients is now based on extensive analyses of cancer cells obtained by tissue biopsy. In addition to being invasive, tissue biopsy relies on the analysis of a single cancer sample at one point in time, which may not be representative due to cancer heterogeneity and clonal evolution. Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive test done on a sample of blood or another bodily fluid from a patient, and it has potential to overcome these limitations of tissue biopsy. Liquid biopsy has been studied as a potential diagnostic, prognostic and predictive marker in patients with cancer. Several limitations for wider application of liquid biopsy in routine clinical practice still remain, such as a lack of consensus on detection methods, an abundance of difficulties in analyzing sequencing information, and the so far limited proof of clinical utility based on large clinical trials. Three most widely studied approaches to liquid biopsy in cancer patients are the analysis of circulating tumor cells, circulating tumor DNA and exosomes. Each of these approaches has its advantages and limitations, which are discussed in this review. The focus of this review is on clinical studies analyzing the potential clinical utility of liquid biopsy in the treatment of patients with different types of cancer.

liquid biopsies ; cancer ; circulating tumor cells ; circulating tumor DNA ; exosomes

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