Examining Diverse Uses for Liquid Biopsies
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) was first detected over 30 years ago, but its potential uses for cancer diagnosis and treatment are only recently being extensively explored. An emerging method known as liquid biopsy examines ctDNA, cell-free DNA (cfDNA), or circulating tumor cells in blood plasma samples to learn about the patient’s cancer without needing to resect tissue from the tumor itself, as is typically required in traditional diagnostic and staging methods. Liquid biopsy could, therefore, provide a minimally invasive technique to detect and characterize cancer and to monitor its response to treatment.
