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Blood-Based Liquid Biopsy in Advanced Prostate Cancer - Beyond the Abstract

Nowadays, in the precision oncology era, it is important to stress the role of the liquid biopsy in prostate cancer management. Liquid biopsy can overcome the main limitations of tissue biopsy: the possible inadequacy of old tissue samples and the clone divergency, thus missing genomic alterations which are fundamental for their prognostic and predictive value.

Currently, clinical trials are widely adopting liquid biopsy for molecular selection of prostate cancer patients. However, the most recent guidelines are lacking in recommending this technique.1 Costs and the need for standardization are certainly limiting the adoption of this useful tool; the possibility of false positives seems not to be a great limitation, but a high sensitivity is essential for its widespread use. Great efforts are therefore needed to implement liquid biopsy in prostate cancer in the future.

Written by: Emilio Francesco Giunta, MD, Department of Medical Oncology, IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori (IRST) 'Dino Amadori', Meldola (FC), Italy

References: 

  1. Pascual J, Attard G, Bidard FC, et al. ESMO recommendations on the use of circulating tumour DNA assays for patients with cancer: a report from the ESMO Precision Medicine Working Group. Ann Oncol. 2022 Aug;33(8):750-768. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2022.05.520.
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