title: Clinical applications of liquid biopsies in gastrointestinal oncology.
abstract: "Liquid biopsies" are blood based assays used to detect and analyze circulating tumor products, including circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating messenger RNA (mRNA), circulating microRNA (miRNA), circulating exosomes, and tumor educated platelets (TEP). For patients with gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies, blood based biopsies may offer several advantages. First, tumor tissue samples are often challenging to procure, and when obtainable, are often insufficient for genomic profiling. Second, blood based assays offer a real-time overview of the entire tumor burden, and allow anatomically unbiased genomic profiling. Third, given the convenience and relative safety of liquid biopsies, this technology may facilitate identification of genomic alterations that confer sensitivity and resistance to targeted therapeutics. This review will assess the clinical applications of circulating tumor products for patients with GI tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Strickler
keywords: Liquid biopsies; cell free DNA (cfDNA); circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA); circulating tumor cells (CTCs)