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Review
. 2024 Aug 6;25(16):8594.
doi: 10.3390/ijms25168594.

Liquid Biopsy in the Clinical Management of Cancers

Ho-Yin Ho  1 , Kei-See Kasey Chung  1 , Chau-Ming Kan  1 , Sze-Chuen Cesar Wong  1
Affiliations
Review

Liquid Biopsy in the Clinical Management of Cancers

Ho-Yin Ho et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Liquid biopsy, a noninvasive diagnosis that examines circulating tumor components in body fluids, is increasingly used in cancer management. An overview of relevant literature emphasizes the current state of liquid biopsy applications in cancer care. Biomarkers in liquid biopsy, particularly circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating tumor RNAs (ctRNA), circulating tumor cells (CTCs), extracellular vesicles (EVs), and other components, offer promising opportunities for early cancer diagnosis, treatment selection, monitoring, and disease assessment. The implementation of liquid biopsy in precision medicine has shown significant potential in various cancer types, including lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. Advances in genomic and molecular technologies such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) and digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) have expanded the utility of liquid biopsy, enabling the detection of somatic variants and actionable genomic alterations in tumors. Liquid biopsy has also demonstrated utility in predicting treatment responses, monitoring minimal residual disease (MRD), and assessing tumor heterogeneity. Nevertheless, standardizing liquid biopsy techniques, interpreting results, and integrating them into the clinical routine remain as challenges. Despite these challenges, liquid biopsy has significant clinical implications in cancer management, offering a dynamic and noninvasive approach to understanding tumor biology and guiding personalized treatment strategies.

Keywords: cancers; clinical management; liquid biopsy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Metastasis cascade. This figure was created with BioRender (https://biorender.com) (accessed on 10 June 2024).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Biomarkers present in liquid biopsy. This figure was created with BioRender (https://biorender.com) (accessed on 10 June 2024).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Biomarkers in blood. This figure was created with BioRender (https://biorender.com) (accessed on 10 June 2024).
Figure 4
Figure 4
The isolation methods of CTCs. This figure was created with BioRender (https://biorender.com) (accessed on 9 June 2024).
Figure 5
Figure 5
The detection methods of CTCs. This figure was created with BioRender (https://biorender.com) (accessed on 9 June 2024).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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