Piombino Claudia, Mastrolia Ilenia, Omarini Claudia, Candini Olivia, Dominici Massimo, Piacentini Federico, Toss Angela
Department of Oncology and Hematology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria di Modena, 41124 Modena, Italy.
Laboratory of Cellular Therapy, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41124 Modena, Italy.
Biomedicines. 2021 Mar 18;9(3):312. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9030312.
The importance of molecular re-characterization of metastatic disease with the purpose of monitoring tumor evolution has been acknowledged in numerous clinical guidelines for the management of advanced malignancies. In this context, an attractive alternative to overcome the limitations of repeated tissue sampling is represented by the analysis of peripheral blood samples as a 'liquid biopsy'. In recent years, liquid biopsies have been studied for the early diagnosis of cancer, the monitoring of tumor burden, tumor heterogeneity and the emergence of molecular resistance, along with the detection of minimal residual disease. Interestingly, liquid biopsy consents the analysis of circulating tumor cells, circulating tumor DNA and extracellular vesicles (EVs). In particular, EVs play a crucial role in cell communication, carrying transmembrane and nonmembrane proteins, as well as metabolites, lipids and nucleic acids. Of all EVs, exosomes mirror the biological fingerprints of the parental cells from which they originate, and therefore, are considered one of the most promising predictors of early cancer diagnosis and treatment response. The present review discusses current knowledge on the possible applications of exosomes in breast cancer (BC) diagnosis, with a focus on patients at higher risk.
在众多晚期恶性肿瘤管理的临床指南中，已认识到为监测肿瘤进展而对转移性疾病进行分子重新表征的重要性。在此背景下，作为一种“液体活检”，对外周血样本进行分析是克服重复组织采样局限性的一种有吸引力的替代方法。近年来，液体活检已被用于癌症的早期诊断、肿瘤负荷监测、肿瘤异质性及分子耐药性的出现，以及微小残留病的检测。有趣的是，液体活检允许对循环肿瘤细胞、循环肿瘤DNA和细胞外囊泡（EVs）进行分析。特别是，EVs在细胞通讯中发挥关键作用，携带跨膜和非膜蛋白以及代谢物、脂质和核酸。在所有EVs中，外泌体反映了其来源亲代细胞的生物学特征，因此，被认为是早期癌症诊断和治疗反应最有前景的预测指标之一。本综述讨论了外泌体在乳腺癌（BC）诊断中可能应用的当前知识，重点关注高危患者。
