PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF LIQUID BIOPSY IN CRC: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Relevance: Liquid biopsy is a modern, quite appropriate, and promising method for diagnosing malignant neoplasms for oncology. The method allows us to determine the level of freely circulating tumor cells – micrometastases, tumor DNA, microRNA, and exosomes in blood plasma- and detect various genetic changes. A literature review of current scientific publications on liquid biopsy techniques, indexed in Medline, PubMed, and Medscape, was carried out as part of the work. The study aimed to review is to assess the prognostic significance of liquid biopsy, to determine the place of the method in current recommendations, and its expediency from the point of view of the practice. Methods: The information search was conducted in the Medline, PubMed, and Medscape databases, with a search depth of 8 years. Data from randomized controlled trials, clinical trials, reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses were analyzed. The review includes both full-fledged articles in the public domain and abstracts to obtain complete information on the problem. Results: Liquid biopsy surpasses tissue biopsy in simplicity and speed of research, easy repeatability, and minimal invasiveness, as well as the possibility of dynamic monitoring of progression – the overall clonal transformation of the tumor and the emergence of resistance to treatment. The disadvantages of this method are low sensitivity, difficulty in correctly interpreting biomarkers and determining their specificity, and high risk of false positive and false negative results due to dormant tumor cells. Conclusion: At present, the Liquid biopsy method is relevant and in demand, but it needs to be tested on a validated sample of the main population, and in order to achieve effective clinical use, important work needs to be done to standardize both preanalytical and analytical procedures and generalize them for all components of liquid biopsy.