Liquid Biopsy - Revolutionizing Cancer Care

1. Liquid Biopsy - Revolutionizing Cancer Care Cancer which is ever-changing in its cause, manifestation and treatment is the most studied and researched disease and the advancements in science are taking us closer to understanding it better each day! Right from its detection to its cure, cancer as many forms and many methods in which it can be eradicated from the body. Liquid biopsy is also one such method which uses blood as a sample to determine the traces of cancer within the body so that the patient can be cured depending on the diagnosis. In this blog, we are going to understand the importance of liquid biopsy, by gaining knowledge about its procedure and features that make it a great way to monitor cancer. Cancer monitoring is done by various techniques and liquid biopsy is one of them which determine the changes in molecules that affect the characteristics of cancer. Liquid Biopsy is much better than surgical biopsies and help in determining which course of treatment to implement for the particular patient. The non-invasive nature of Liquid Biopsy and the requirement on only 5mml blood for test gives it an upper hand over surgical biopsy, also making it much easier to tolerate and the procedure is quicker than a surgical biopsy. Cancers which are caused due to multiple genetic mutations often go undetected by examining tissue sample obtained from surgical biopsy and therefore liquid biopsy is a much more accurate method to see the progression of cancer molecules. Once more beneficial feature of Liquid Biopsy is that cancer can be detected far before their clinical symptoms occur in the patients, thus giving time to act upon the disease accordingly. Methodology or liquid biopsy includes withdrawing blood from patient which is used to detect the circulating tumor cell which contains the DNA, RNA and other material. These are then sequenced to monitor any mutations in the patient’s body from where the sample has been taken. Circulating tumor cells and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) are monitored from the blood sample for DNA abnormalities, RNA expression, Protein expression, Amplifications and Deletions, Translocations, Chromosomal Abnormalities and Point Mutations. In the early intervention period, cancer is diagnosed through screening while in the Localized disease; doctors determine the risk of recurrence after treatment. In the metastatic disease, treatment is determined by presence of biomarkers and in refractory disease, the mechanisms of resistance, disease progression and identification of newer treatments.

2. Scientific knowledge advances, researchers are learning more about the potential of liquid biopsies to detect mutations, suggesting that the promise and power of this diagnostic technology could be truly game-changing. Liquid biopsy is been studied to detect cancer in patients long before they experience their symptoms which allows the doctor to treat them with specific cancer and also understand the nature of cancer even before it manifests in the patient’s body! Know more about us and the work we showcase by subscribing to our newsletter which will give you daily dose of knowledge and help you understand these topics precisely.