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Review
. 2020 Nov 28;10(11):307-319.
doi: 10.5500/wjt.v10.i11.307.

Donor-specific cell-free DNA as a biomarker in liver transplantation: A review

Tess McClure  1 , Su Kah Goh  2 , Daniel Cox  2 , Vijayaragavan Muralidharan  2 , Alexander Dobrovic  3 , Adam G Testro  4
Affiliations
Review

Donor-specific cell-free DNA as a biomarker in liver transplantation: A review

Tess McClure et al. World J Transplant. .

Abstract

Due to advances in modern medicine, liver transplantation has revolutionised the prognosis of many previously incurable liver diseases. This progress has largely been due to advances in immunosuppressant therapy. However, despite the judicious use of immunosuppression, many liver transplant recipients still experience complications such as rejection, which necessitates diagnosis via invasive liver biopsy. There is a clear need for novel, minimally-invasive tests to optimise immunosuppression and improve patient outcomes. An emerging biomarker in this ''precision medicine'' liver transplantation field is that of donor-specific cell free DNA. In this review, we detail the background and methods of detecting this biomarker, examine its utility in liver transplantation and discuss future research directions that may be most impactful.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Donor-specific cell-free DNA; Liver transplantation; Precision medicine; Rejection; Review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The concept of donor-specific cell-free DNA in liver transplantation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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