Fostering the implementation of liquid biopsy in clinical practice: meeting report 2024 of the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS)

Klaus Pantel^{1

2}, Catherine Alix-Panabières^{3

4

5}, Paul Hofman⁶, Nikolas H Stoecklein⁷, Yong-Jie Lu⁸, Evi Lianidou⁹, Patrizio Giacomini¹⁰, Claudia Koch^{3

11}, Vincent de Jager¹², Zandra C Deans^{13

14}, Jennifer Fairley¹⁴, Simon J Patton¹⁵, Rodrigo A Toledo^{16

17}, Ed Schuuring¹², Ellen Heitzer^{18

19}, An Hendrix^{20

21}, Franz Lennard Ricklefs²², Basant Kumar Thakur²³, Nikolas von Bubnoff^{24

25}, Jean-Yves Pierga²⁶, Christoffer Gebhardt^{27

28}, Claus Lindbjerg Andersen^{29

30}, Remond Fijneman³¹, Núria Malats³², Ariane Hallermayr³³, Claude Chelala⁸, Simon A Joosse^{3

11}, Gennaro Ciliberto³⁴

Affiliations

¹ ELBS, Hamburg, Germany. pantel@uke.de.
² Department of Tumor Biology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, Hamburg, 20246, Germany. pantel@uke.de.
³ ELBS, Hamburg, Germany.
⁴ Laboratory of Rare Human Circulating Cells (LCCRH) and Liquid Biopsy, University Medical Centre of Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
⁵ CREEC (CREES), Unité Mixte de Recherches, IRD 224-CNRS 5290-Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
⁶ IHU RespirERA, Laboratory of Clinical and Experimental Pathology, FHU OncoAge, Biobank 0033-00025, Côte d'Azur University, Nice, France.
⁷ Department of General, Visceral and Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital and Medical Faculty of Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany.
⁸ Centre for Cancer Biomarkers and Biotherapeutics, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
⁹ Department of Chemistry, Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells Lab, Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
¹⁰ Precision Medicine Unit in Senology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Agostino Gemelli, 8, Roma, 00168, Italy.
¹¹ Department of Tumor Biology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, Hamburg, 20246, Germany.
¹² Department of Pathology and Medical Biology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
¹³ Genomics Unit, NHS England, London, UK.
¹⁴ GenQA, Nine, 9 Little France Road, Edinburgh BioquarterEdinburgh, EH16 4SA, UK.
¹⁵ EMQN CIC, Unit 4, Enterprise House, Manchester Science Park, Pencroft Way, Manchester, M15 6SE, UK.
¹⁶ Biomarkers and Clonal Dynamics Group, Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, 08035, Spain.
¹⁷ Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, 28029, Spain.
¹⁸ Institute of Human Genetics, Diagnostic and Research Center for Molecular BioMedicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
¹⁹ Christian Doppler Laboratory for Liquid Biopsies for Early Detection of Cancer, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
²⁰ Department of Human Structure and Repair, Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research,, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
²¹ Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
²² Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical-Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
²³ Department of Pediatrics III, University Hospital Essen and University Duisburg, Essen, Germany.
²⁴ University Cancer Center Schleswig-Holstein, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany.
²⁵ Department of Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, Lübeck, 23538, Germany.
²⁶ Department of Medical Oncology, Université Paris Cité, Institut Curie, Paris, 75005, France.
²⁷ Fleur Hiege Center for Skin Cancer Research, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
²⁸ Department of Dermatology and Venereology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
²⁹ Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
³⁰ Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
³¹ Department of Pathology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³² Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Group, Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) and CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain.
³³ MGZ - Medizinisch Genetisches Zentrum, Munich, Germany.
³⁴ Scientific Direction, IRCCS Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy.

PMID: 40410806
PMCID: PMC12100835
DOI: 10.1186/s13046-025-03398-4

Fostering the implementation of liquid biopsy in clinical practice: meeting report 2024 of the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS)

Klaus Pantel et al. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2025.

. 2025 May 23;44(1):156.

doi: 10.1186/s13046-025-03398-4.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ ELBS, Hamburg, Germany. pantel@uke.de.
² Department of Tumor Biology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, Hamburg, 20246, Germany. pantel@uke.de.
³ ELBS, Hamburg, Germany.
⁴ Laboratory of Rare Human Circulating Cells (LCCRH) and Liquid Biopsy, University Medical Centre of Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
⁵ CREEC (CREES), Unité Mixte de Recherches, IRD 224-CNRS 5290-Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
⁶ IHU RespirERA, Laboratory of Clinical and Experimental Pathology, FHU OncoAge, Biobank 0033-00025, Côte d'Azur University, Nice, France.
⁷ Department of General, Visceral and Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital and Medical Faculty of Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany.
⁸ Centre for Cancer Biomarkers and Biotherapeutics, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
⁹ Department of Chemistry, Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells Lab, Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
¹⁰ Precision Medicine Unit in Senology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Agostino Gemelli, 8, Roma, 00168, Italy.
¹¹ Department of Tumor Biology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, Hamburg, 20246, Germany.
¹² Department of Pathology and Medical Biology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
¹³ Genomics Unit, NHS England, London, UK.
¹⁴ GenQA, Nine, 9 Little France Road, Edinburgh BioquarterEdinburgh, EH16 4SA, UK.
¹⁵ EMQN CIC, Unit 4, Enterprise House, Manchester Science Park, Pencroft Way, Manchester, M15 6SE, UK.
¹⁶ Biomarkers and Clonal Dynamics Group, Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, 08035, Spain.
¹⁷ Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, 28029, Spain.
¹⁸ Institute of Human Genetics, Diagnostic and Research Center for Molecular BioMedicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
¹⁹ Christian Doppler Laboratory for Liquid Biopsies for Early Detection of Cancer, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
²⁰ Department of Human Structure and Repair, Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research,, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
²¹ Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
²² Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical-Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
²³ Department of Pediatrics III, University Hospital Essen and University Duisburg, Essen, Germany.
²⁴ University Cancer Center Schleswig-Holstein, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany.
²⁵ Department of Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, Lübeck, 23538, Germany.
²⁶ Department of Medical Oncology, Université Paris Cité, Institut Curie, Paris, 75005, France.
²⁷ Fleur Hiege Center for Skin Cancer Research, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
²⁸ Department of Dermatology and Venereology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
²⁹ Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
³⁰ Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
³¹ Department of Pathology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³² Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Group, Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) and CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain.
³³ MGZ - Medizinisch Genetisches Zentrum, Munich, Germany.
³⁴ Scientific Direction, IRCCS Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy.

PMID: 40410806
PMCID: PMC12100835
DOI: 10.1186/s13046-025-03398-4

No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
The ELBS, founded by Klaus Pantel in 2020, pursues a holistic approach to tackling the challenges of clinical implementation in the liquid biopsy field. The network incorporates key players from academia, clinic, industry, and national government agencies and currently consists of 93 members from 21 countries world-wide. The ELBS consists of six distinct working groups that are chaired by steering committees of 2–4 members that drive the activity of the network in their specific area of expertise

**Fig. 2**
ctDNA WG activities (a) the ctDNA Barcelona ELBS workshop: areas and questions. b ctDNA: a survey by the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS), topics and potential responders

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Romero D. Tracking cancer in liquid biopsies. Nature Milestones: Cancer. 2020. https://www.nature.com/articles/d42859-020-00070-z.
1. Alix-Panabières C, Pantel K. Advances in liquid biopsy: from exploration to practical application. Cancer Cell. 2025;43(2):161–5. - PubMed
1. Pantel K, Alix-Panabières C. Minimal residual disease as a target for liquid biopsy in patients with solid tumours. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2025;22(1):65–77. - PubMed
1. Ilié M, et al. Standardization through education of molecular pathology: a spotlight on the European Masters in Molecular Pathology. Virchows Arch. 2024;485(5):761–75. - PubMed
1. de Jager VD, et al. Reporting of molecular test results from cell-free DNA analyses: expert consensus recommendations from the 2023 European Liquid Biopsy Society ctDNA Workshop. EBioMedicine. 2025;114:105636. 10.1016/j.ebiom.2025.105636. - PMC - PubMed

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Fostering the implementation of liquid biopsy in clinical practice: meeting report 2024 of the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS)

Affiliations

Fostering the implementation of liquid biopsy in clinical practice: meeting report 2024 of the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS)

Authors

Affiliations

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources