Howell Jessica A, Sharma Rohini
Department of Hepatology, St Mary's Hospital, Imperial College, London, UK.
Centre for Population Health, MacFarlane-Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
Hepat Oncol. 2016 Jan;3(1):45-55. doi: 10.2217/hep.15.38. Epub 2015 Nov 30.
Circulating free tumor DNA (ctDNA) is DNA released from necrotic or apoptotic tumor cells into the bloodstream. Absolute levels of ctDNA, as well as genetic mutations and epigenetic changes detected in ctDNA are useful biomarkers of tumor biology, progression and response to therapy in many tumor types and recent evidence suggests they may be useful in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). ctDNA detected in blood, therefore, offers a minimally invasive, easily repeated 'liquid biopsy' of cancer, providing real-time dynamic analysis of tumor behavior and treatment response that could revolutionize both clinical and research practice in HCC. In this review, we provide a critical summary of the evidence for the utility of ctDNA as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in HCC.
循环游离肿瘤DNA（ctDNA）是从坏死或凋亡的肿瘤细胞释放到血液中的DNA。ctDNA的绝对水平以及在ctDNA中检测到的基因突变和表观遗传变化是许多肿瘤类型中肿瘤生物学、进展和治疗反应的有用生物标志物，最近的证据表明它们可能在肝细胞癌（HCC）中有用。因此，血液中检测到的ctDNA提供了一种微创、易于重复的癌症“液体活检”，可对肿瘤行为和治疗反应进行实时动态分析，这可能会彻底改变HCC的临床和研究实践。在本综述中，我们对ctDNA作为HCC诊断和预后生物标志物的效用证据进行了批判性总结。
