Actionable Molecular Targets in Cancer Liquid Biopsy

2017

The possibility to detect nucleic acid sequences in the bloodstream deriving from an underlying tumor process has disclosed a unique opportunity in medical oncology. Whether the nucleic acid material is leaked in the blood at any step of cancer development (circulating tumor DNA or ctDNA) or it is obtained from isolated circulating tumor cells (CTCs), the detection and analysis of the meaningful sequence defects harbored in instrumental molecular targets (which we call liquid biopsy) constitutes an invaluable tool toward leading the current oncology practice toward a less invasive and fully personalized diagnostic-therapeutic workflow. In spite of the current technical limitations that liqu…