Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Morgan Welch Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Program and Clinic, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jul 16;23(14):7843. doi: 10.3390/ijms23147843.
Liquid biopsies allow for the detection of cancer biomarkers such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). Elevated levels of these biomarkers during cancer treatment could potentially serve as indicators of cancer progression and shed light on the mechanisms of metastasis and therapy resistance. Thus, liquid biopsies serve as tools for cancer detection and monitoring through a simple, non-invasive blood draw, allowing multiple longitudinal sampling. These circulating markers have significant prospects for use in assessing patients' prognosis, monitoring response to therapy, and developing precision medicine. In addition, single-cell omics of these liquid biopsy markers can be potential tools for identifying tumor heterogeneity and plasticity as well as novel therapeutic targets. In this review, we focus on our current understanding of circulating tumor biomarkers, especially in breast cancer, and the scope of novel sequencing technologies and diagnostic methods for better prognostication and patient stratification to improve patient outcomes.
液体活检可检测癌症生物标志物，如循环肿瘤细胞 (CTC) 和循环肿瘤 DNA (ctDNA)。癌症治疗期间这些生物标志物水平升高可能潜在地作为癌症进展的指标，并揭示转移和治疗耐药的机制。因此，液体活检通过简单的非侵入性采血作为癌症检测和监测的工具，允许多次纵向取样。这些循环标志物在评估患者预后、监测治疗反应和开发精准医学方面具有重要的应用前景。此外，这些液体活检标志物的单细胞组学可能是识别肿瘤异质性和可塑性以及新的治疗靶点的潜在工具。在这篇综述中，我们重点关注我们对循环肿瘤生物标志物的现有理解，特别是在乳腺癌中的应用，以及新型测序技术和诊断方法的应用范围，以更好地进行预后判断和患者分层，从而改善患者的预后。
