Liquid biopsy: possibilities and limitations in uro-oncology.

In the recent years, research in oncologyhas focused on liquid biopsies, which rely on thedetection of cancer-derived components, includingcirculating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA(ctDNA), circulating free RNA (cfRNA), and extracellularvesicles (EVs), in the biofluids of patients, providinggenomic, epigenetic and transcriptomic, informationabout tumors and metastatic sites. In this reviewwe collect current evidence regarding the potentialof liquid biopsies for the diagnosis and follow-up ofuro-oncology patients, as well as the advantages andlimitations of these approaches. Although promising,the way in which this methodology must be incorporatedinto the clinical routine needs to be still definedboth at the pre-analytical and analytical level beforetheir clinical utility is demonstrated.