title: The promise of liquid biopsy in cancer: a clinical perspective.
abstract: The clinical utility of liquid biopsy in cancer treatment will increase as circulating tumor cells (CTCs) analysis move from the enumeration to the real-time measurement of tumor characteristics. Intratumor heterogeneity is becoming increasingly recognized as a major drawback to the shift to personalized medicine. Spatial and temporal heterogeneity might be reflected by the serial assessment of CTCs. Indeed, the developing technologies for CTCs analysis now allow digital genomic and next-generation sequencing approaches, able to differentiate molecular subtypes of the disease and to monitor genetic variation over time. The liquid biopsy of cancer might offer a real-time assessment of tumor biology, providing the opportunity to serially evaluate patients most likely to benefit from targeted drugs based on a dynamic characterization of the disease at the molecular level. Although hurdles remain before liquid biopsy is seen in routine clinical practice, the information derived from CTCs may facilitate the real-time identification of actionable mutations in cancer leading the way toward personalized medicine.
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Radiological Oncological and Pathological Sciences, Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cortesi
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Radiological Oncological and Pathological Sciences, Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palleschi
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Radiological Oncological and Pathological Sciences, Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Magri
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Radiological Oncological and Pathological Sciences, Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Naso
keywords: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs); breast liquid biopsy cancer