The development of a liquid biopsy for head and neck cancers.
Developing non-invasive diagnostic tools in the field of head and neck oncology has been a challenge. Analysis of circulating tumour derivatives in a patient's blood has been explored in other solid cancers. This includes analysis of circulating tumour DNA, intact circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and exosomes. These circulating tumour derivatives provide avenues of investigation which can be representative of a patient's primary tumour signature and can be assessed from a patient's blood sample. In advanced stage cancer patients, these tumour derivatives are found in higher amounts, attributed to higher cellular turnover (apoptosis, autophagy), lysed CTCs and sloughing from necrotic tumours. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients often present with advanced disease associated with a poor 5-year survival of <50%. Outside of sophisticated imaging and clinical examination, there is a lack of available biomarkers to measure disease burden, and/or response to therapy. Implementation of a liquid biopsy in HNSCC through serial blood samples has the potential to detect metastatic events earlier, thereby allowing better selection of appropriate treatment choices, predict prognosis in patients with potentially curable disease, monitor systemic therapies and residual disease post-treatment.
The School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, QLD, Australia.
Henri
H
Schmidt
The School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, QLD, Australia.
Arutha
A
Kulasinghe
School of Medicine, University of Queensland; Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane; Central Integrated Regional Cancer Service, Queensland Health, Queensland, Australia.
Liz
L
Kenny
The School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, QLD, Australia. Electronic address: chamindie.punyadeera@qut.edu.au.
Chamindie
C
Punyadeera
D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D000073890:Liquid Biopsy; D008297:Male; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
D004273:DNA, Neoplasm
CTC; HNSCC; Heterogeneity; Liquid biopsy; ctDNA