In recent era, lots of new therapies are getting the green signal from the FDA. As per the guidelines recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) matching genomic markers is the first-line strategy to target various therapies. This includes dealing with:
Metastatic melanoma
Breast
Non-small cell lung cancer
Gastric
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Chronic myelogenous leukemia
Colorectal
Gastrointestinal stromal tumor
While some patients may have access to new age therapies, there might be some reasons when the patients become ineligible for certain type of tests. This means that they are losing the opportunity of experiencing new life saving therapies.
Introducing liquid biopsy
The process of liquid biopsy is to search the evidences of disease biomarkers in fluids like blood and cerebrospinal fluid. In the case of cancer, the same biomarkers often include circulating tumor cells (CTC), and circulating cell-free nucleic acids. These further include circulating tumor DNA, proteins, exosomes and phosphoproteins. Test for cancer in Delhi shows that liquid biopsies has the ability to detect genetic alterations which are tumor associated. It can stratify the tumors molecularly and guide the most accurate targeted treatment when it comes to precision oncology. Liquid biopsy is a form of evaluation which is done based on body fluid. Human body contains different types of fluids that have genetic material. These include blood, saliva, urine, cerebrospinal fluid and stool. Some of the primary advantages of liquid biopsies are:
Minimal invasive
Reduced risk
Fast process
Enhanced throughput
The Process of Liquid Biopsies
The process of liquid biopsy includes studying of DNA as the analyte. This process eases DNA isolation and thus, enhances the availability of parallel sequencing technologies. Liquid biopsy uses this technology for evaluating alterations which are tumor specific. DNA mutations generally occur in cells which are normal and this happens at a rate of five mutations per genome. However, in the case of clonal proliferations, the process has the ability to contribute large number of DNA templates. These can be detected at frequencies which are above 0.01 from the perspective of plasma. Apart from point mutations and insertions, liquid biopsy also helps in detecting a number of genetic aberrations like changes in copy number, DNA fragment sizes, epigenetic changes, translocations etc.
The Notable Part of Liquid Biopsy
Liquid biopsy helps in identifying targeted treatments with clinical eligibility. If a patient is having problem with tissue based testing or somehow it is not available, switching to liquid biopsy would the smartest choice. As per the enhanced cancer test in Delhi, liquid biopsy is a safe alternative. The process is usually known for its rapid and minimal invasive approach. Also, the test is economical for most patients. It is the process that helps oncologists to gain real time information about a specific tumor.
