Landmark Review Charts the Path from ctDNA Research to Clinical Liquid Biopsy
This influential Nature Reviews Cancer paper appraised the state of circulating tumour DNA analysis as it transitioned from proof-of-principle research to clinical application. The review systematically evaluated ctDNA detection approaches and their potential for prognostication, molecular profiling, and treatment monitoring, while highlighting unresolved questions about cell-free DNA biology that remain relevant to assay design and clinical interpretation.
The original study
Liquid biopsies come of age: towards implementation of circulating tumour DNA.
- Authors
- Wan JCM, Massie C, Garcia-Corbacho J, Mouliere F, Brenton JD, Caldas C, et al.
- Journal
- Nature reviews. Cancer
- Type
- Journal Article, Review
- PMID
- 28233803
Original abstract
Improvements in genomic and molecular methods are expanding the range of potential applications for circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA), both in a research setting and as a 'liquid biopsy' for cancer management. Proof-of-principle studies have demonstrated the translational potential of ctDNA for prognostication, molecular profiling and monitoring. The field is now in an exciting transitional period in which ctDNA analysis is beginning to be applied clinically, although there is still much to learn about the biology of cell-free DNA. This is an opportune time to appraise potential approaches to ctDNA analysis, and to consider their applications in personalized oncology and in cancer research.