Liquid Biopsies in the Clinical Management of Germ Cell Tumor Patients: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions.

ABSTRACT: Liquid biopsies constitute a minimally invasive means of managing cancer patients, entailing early diagnosis, follow-up and prediction of response to therapy. Their use in the germ cell tumor field is invaluable since diagnostic tissue biopsies (which are invasive) are often not performed, and therefore only a presumptive diagnosis can be made, confirmed upon examination of the surgical specimen. Herein, we provide an overall review of the current liquid biopsy-based biomarkers of this disease, including the classical, routinely used serum tumor markers-the promising microRNAs rapidly approaching the introduction into clinical practice-but also cell-free DNA markers (including DNA methylation) and circulating tumor cells. Finally, and importantly, we also explore novel strategies and chall

SUBMITTER: Lobo J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7961393 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature