VALUATING CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF LIQUID BIOPSY BY COMBINING CIRCULATING TUMOR DNA AND TUMOR CELLS

Abstract

"Liquid biopsy" concentrates on the identification of ‘Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) as well as ‘Cell-free Tumor DNA’ (ctDNA) in the systemic circulation of individuals suffering from cancer, has received a lot of interest due to its evident clinical implications for individualized therapy. CTC and ctDNA studies have created fresh diagnostic approaches and are now the foundations of liquid biopsy. The existing study concentrates on cancer diagnoses, prognosis prediction in people having treatable diseases, observing systemic therapy, and patient categorization depending on the identification of aimed therapeutics or resistance mechanisms. Although the use of CTCs and ctDNA for initial cancer diagnosis is gaining popularity, existing techniques experience major challenges in terms of particularity and sensitivity. Prognosis projection in people with the treatable disease so far realized in some cancer entities, especially in breast cancer. Sequential assessments of CTCs or ctDNA can also be used to monitor the progress or non-success of systemic medicines (such as hormone and chemotherapy as well as various targeted therapies).To integrate liquid diagnostic tests into personalized medicine, interventional studies on therapy stratification based on CTC and ctDNA analyses are required. KEYWORDS: Tumor cells, DNA, Circulating cells, Chemotherapy, Liquid biopsy