Liquid biopsy is a revolutionary method of cancer diagnosis developed in the USA. It allows the detection of at least 10 types of cancer long before symptoms of the disease appear. The study of, among others it is 90% effective in diagnosing ovarian cancer and 80% in diagnosing pancreatic cancer. The method makes it possible to find even small fragments of cancer cell DNA in the blood. What is a liquid biopsy and what types of tumors does it detect?

Liquid biopsyis a simple, fast and, as proven by research, effective method of cancer diagnosis invented by scientists from the Taussig Cancer Institute at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio (USA). The test detects neoplastic cells circulating in the blood, specifically their small pieces of DNA known as cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)

So far, liquid biopsy has been used to monitor the course of an already diagnosed neoplastic disease in order to select an appropriate treatment method, assess its effectiveness and predict the development of the disease. The current, improved method of liquid biopsy detects neoplasms long before the first symptoms of the disease appear. So it gives a chance to apply the therapy earlier. This method is more effective than genetic tests, which only determine the risk of cancer in a specific patient.

From 1 to 5 June 2022. The American Society of Clinical Oncologist conference was held in Chicago (USA), where the latest results of liquid biopsy research conducted on a group of 1,600 people were announced.

Liquid biopsy - what is it?

The traditional biopsy for the final diagnosis of cancer involves taking a sample of tissue already affected by the disease. A biopsy can be performed during surgery or by a minimally invasive method, the so-called fine needle biopsy (such is used, for example, in breast cancer).

Liquid biopsystarts with taking a blood sample from the patient. The first stage of the test is to determine the DNA composition of the blood. The second recognizes potentially dangerous genetic mutations. The last, third step is to analyze specific DNA fragments to assess whether they contain traces of neoplastic changes.

Eric Klein, research leader at the Cleveland Clinic) calls it liquidbiopsy "Holy Grail of cancer research", which makes it possible to detect severe tumors at an early stage that is easy to treat.

Important

The liquid biopsy test enables the diagnosis of at least 10 cancers:- ovarian cancer - the effectiveness of the test is approx. 90% - pancreatic cancer - 80% effectiveness - esophageal cancer - 77% effectiveness - gastric cancer - 77% effective - uterine cancer - 77% effective - colorectal cancer - 73% effective - lung cancer - 59% effective - neck and head cancer - 56% effective

Worth knowing

The first information about liquid biopsy appeared in 2015. And although the reports were not groundbreaking and the study was expensive, in 2022 Great Britain and Poland decided to introduce it in some of their laboratories. According to scientists, liquid biopsy as a diagnostic method is to be widely used in 10-15 years. It should be a mandatory screening test for people above a certain age at which the risk of developing cancer increases.

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Research