title: Circulating Tumor DNA as Biomarkers for Cancer Detection.
abstract: Detection of circulating tumor DNAs (ctDNAs) in cancer patients is an important component of cancer precision medicine ctDNAs. Compared to the traditional physical and biochemical methods, blood-based ctDNA detection offers a non-invasive and easily accessible way for cancer diagnosis, prognostic determination, and guidance for treatment. While studies on this topic are currently underway, clinical translation of ctDNA detection in various types of cancers has been attracting much attention, due to the great potential of ctDNA as blood-based biomarkers for early diagnosis and treatment of cancers. ctDNAs are detected and tracked primarily based on tumor-related genetic and epigenetic alterations. In this article, we reviewed the available studies on ctDNA detection and described the representative methods. We also discussed the current understanding of ctDNAs in cancer patients and their availability as potential biomarkers for clinical purposes. Considering the progress made and challenges involved in accurate detection of specific cell-free nucleic acids, ctDNAs hold promise to serve as biomarkers for cancer patients, and further validation is needed prior to their broad clinical use.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, China Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Center, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, China Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Center, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Junyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, China Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Center, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: sunyl@big.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yingli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D057285:Precision Medicine / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm
keywords: Biomarker; Cell-free nucleic acids; Circulating tumor DNA; Clinical diagnosis; Liquid biopsy; Precision medicine