Recent advances in the application of liquid biopsy in gastrointestinal malignancies

Liquid biopsy is an emerging diagnostic tool in medicine. That means non-invasive sampling and analysis of whole blood, serum, saliva and urine samples for cancer-associated particles (e.g. circulating tumor cells, circulating cell-free nucleotides, exosomes, cancer associated proteins, etc.). Liquid biopsy could develop to be a crucial step in the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal tumors. Compared to currently used tissue based (core biopsy, fi ne-needle aspiration biopsy, surgical resection) diagnostic methods it might deliver comparable information regarding molecular and genetic profi ling of tumors. Further, it might provide earlier diagnosis and better refl ect tumor heterogeneity. Used together with other diagnostic modalities (e.g. imaging studies, currently used tumor markers) liquid biopsy could provide useful information for precision medicine and personalized therapy.