Digestive cancers are a major cause of morbidity and mortality representing over a fifth of all cancers and a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Pathological analysis, tumor markers, and imaging are currently the main tools used by clinicians to establish the diagnosis, monitor treatments, and assess the prognosis of cancer patients. Recently, significant improvements in molecular biology and technology, lead to novel screening, diagnostic, and monitoring tools holding the promise for better outcomes in cancer patients.
Liquid biopsy is a concept defined by the detection and analysis in the blood or in other body fluids of various components of tumoral origin, like circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor nucleic acids (ctDNA/RNA), specific methylation patterns of ctDNA, extracellular vesicles (exosomes) or by the identification in these fluids of systemic changes induced by the tumor using different “omics” platforms (i.e. metabolomics and proteomics). Using advanced molecular biology techniques like next-generation sequencing (NGS), for example, liquid biopsy enables the interrogation of cancer characteristics in a non-invasive, robust, and reproducible manner. A major advantage of liquid biopsy is the non-invasive monitoring of cancer treatments. Liquid biopsies allow not only early detection of progression and/or treatment resistance but may also point to the precise mechanism of resistance indicating specific targetable molecular changes that can be exploited for treatment. Currently, there are several liquid biopsy platforms already approved for use in the clinic, and, multiple others at different stages of development from “bench to bedside”.
The present research topic of Frontiers in Medicine welcomes papers focused on analyzing the utility of liquid biopsy techniques in the screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment monitoring of gastrointestinal, pancreatic, and liver cancers.
The main areas of interest are:
• The use of liquid biopsy for screening and early diagnosis
• Liquid biopsy for the detection of residual disease following therapy
• The use of liquid biopsy for surveillance, and, respectively, early detection of cancer recurrence after treatment
• Liquid biopsy for the identification of therapeutic targets that can be used for personalized patient treatments
Digestive cancers are a major cause of morbidity and mortality representing over a fifth of all cancers and a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Pathological analysis, tumor markers, and imaging are currently the main tools used by clinicians to establish the diagnosis, monitor treatments, and assess the prognosis of cancer patients. Recently, significant improvements in molecular biology and technology, lead to novel screening, diagnostic, and monitoring tools holding the promise for better outcomes in cancer patients.
Liquid biopsy is a concept defined by the detection and analysis in the blood or in other body fluids of various components of tumoral origin, like circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor nucleic acids (ctDNA/RNA), specific methylation patterns of ctDNA, extracellular vesicles (exosomes) or by the identification in these fluids of systemic changes induced by the tumor using different “omics” platforms (i.e. metabolomics and proteomics). Using advanced molecular biology techniques like next-generation sequencing (NGS), for example, liquid biopsy enables the interrogation of cancer characteristics in a non-invasive, robust, and reproducible manner. A major advantage of liquid biopsy is the non-invasive monitoring of cancer treatments. Liquid biopsies allow not only early detection of progression and/or treatment resistance but may also point to the precise mechanism of resistance indicating specific targetable molecular changes that can be exploited for treatment. Currently, there are several liquid biopsy platforms already approved for use in the clinic, and, multiple others at different stages of development from “bench to bedside”.
The present research topic of Frontiers in Medicine welcomes papers focused on analyzing the utility of liquid biopsy techniques in the screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment monitoring of gastrointestinal, pancreatic, and liver cancers.
The main areas of interest are:
• The use of liquid biopsy for screening and early diagnosis
• Liquid biopsy for the detection of residual disease following therapy
• The use of liquid biopsy for surveillance, and, respectively, early detection of cancer recurrence after treatment
• Liquid biopsy for the identification of therapeutic targets that can be used for personalized patient treatments
