Chemotherapy: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Is Circulating Tumor DNA (Ctdna) Use Ready For Prime Time? Applications and Challenges of Ctdna in the Era of Precision Oncology

Davis AA, Chae YK and Giles FJ

“Liquid biopsies” have emerged as a tool to monitor genomic alterations in the peripheral blood [1]. Cell-free DNA consists of noncancerous nucleic acids and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). The proportion of ctDNA depends on the tumor cell of origin and stage of malignancy [2-5]. Peripheral blood biopsies can detect single nucleotide variants, indels, copy number variants, rearrangements and fusions, non-invasively, avoiding risk associated with repeat tissue biopsies. However, concerns remain with respect to ctDNA adequately reflecting tumor heterogeneity, thresholds for detection, and lack of randomized control trials to validate improved survival outcomes. As a result, further data are necessary to compare sequencing data between tissue and blood biopsies to validate clinical utility.