The term ‘Liquid Biopsy’ has got considerable attention in medical science over the last few years. Projected as a revolutionary tool, liquid biopsy has become one of the most talked-about aspects of both cancer diagnosis and prognosis. It goes without saying that liquid biopsy has stirred optimism among the oncologists at the best cancer hospital in West Bengal and other cancer treatment centres across the globe.

What is liquid biopsy?

Biopsy is the only test to confirm cancer. The process involves either fine needle insertion (also called FNAC) or sampling a piece of tumour for lab analysis. Liquid biopsy is based on circulating tumour cells or CTCs in blood. To be more precise, it is guided by circulating tumour DNA, which is a most recent revelation.

Advantages of Liquid Biopsy

Liquid biopsy serves multiple purposes including:

• Earlier diagnosis than conventional imaging or radiology
• A more personalized approach to cancer treatment through genotype-based detection and profiling
• Identifying the factors responsible for resistance to any therapy
• Measuring the residual cancerous cells after treatment
• Precise assessment of cancer resistance or relapse after treatment

Traditional biopsy or tissue biopsy is an invasive procedure whereas liquid biopsy is done on easily accessible peripheral blood. Hence, it is suitable for a more widespread use, especially benefiting the cancer patients not eligible for surgery. Liquid biopsy can cut down the time to treat a patient as treatment decision is based on tumour detection and its genetic profile among other factors. This advanced method of cancer diagnosis can also improve the efficiency of oncologists and medical resources. Furthermore, it can be employed to screen more samples.

With liquid biopsy, some serious complications of traditional biopsies such as, injury to surrounding tissues, risk of spread and severe bleeding can be avoided.

Many malignant tumours show regional heterogeneity. It means these tumours contain different types of cells. From traditional tissue-based biopsy, it is hardly possible to access and assess the complete molecular profile of a cancerous tumour. This pitfall adversely influences treatment decision and outcome.

Liquid biopsy is focussed on detecting circulating DNA from different sites within a single tumour and so, provides a comprehensive genome structure. By doing this, it facilitates a more innovative and efficient procedure to choose patients for clinical trials. A quick access to complete genomic sequence helps in-depth analysis of mutations and triggers appropriate therapy. Liquid biopsies are effective for patients’ inclusion or segmentation as well as monitoring on them.

Challenges for Liquid Biopsy Adoption

When it comes to adopting liquid biopsy, the procedure faces two big challenges. A universal standard should be developed for both clinical adoption and validation. Besides, a few more areas include:

• It is highly important to develop a complex biological data for validation in studies so that it can generate more useful results for clinical assessments in order to guide appropriate treatment decisions.
• In-depth understanding of cancer biomarkers and biology
• Limitations or uncertainty of liquid biopsy reimbursement

Final Words

Large scale application of liquid biopsy requires more clinical evidences of its benefits to patients and its potentials as a cost-excellent cancer diagnostic tool. However, there is no doubt that liquid biopsy is an effective method to ensure quick diagnosis, encourage personalized treatment and enhance treatment outcomes.