During the past decade, various advances have been made in broadening an oncologist’s cancer care arsenal, particularly in the areas of early diagnosis and personalized treatment. Liquid biopsy has emerged as a revolutionary technique in furthering this agenda in precision oncology. Scoring far higher on ease of use compared to tumor biopsy, this approach holds great promise for understanding a longitudinal tumor profile. Its applications include detecting actionable mutations, informing treatment decisions, monitoring treatment response, detecting disease recurrence, and identifying resistance mechanisms.
Despite all the advances made in liquid biopsy, there have been significant challenges in its adoption as a standard clinical tool. Now, we believe the field of liquid biopsy has finally reached an inflection point with the approval of two next-generation liquid biopsy assays – Guardant Health’s Guardant360 CDx assay and Foundation Medicine’s FoundationOne Liquid CDx.
In this interview, we will discuss:
- Advances in liquid biopsy over the last decade
- Current clinical and regulatory challenges in widespread adoption of liquid biopsy and BloodPAC’s role in alleviating these challenges
- Factors shaping the future of liquid biopsy in precision oncology