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Liquid biopsy, a test done on a blood sample to look for cancer cells or DNA fragments from a tumor, is already routinely used in lung cancer management to select the best drug options according to the mutations found in each patient. Recent studies have also evaluated its potential to distinguish malignant from benign pulmonary nodules in the process of diagnosing the disease.
For this process to be feasible, however, it is still necessary to improve the sensitivity and specificity of the technique, according to a review published in April in the Thoracic Cancer journal.
According to Rodrigo Dienstmann, oncologist and director of the OC Precision Medicine Laboratory, of the Oncoclínicas Group, in the future, screening for lung cancer should comprise a combination of diagnostic procedures. For example, the detection of the lesion by tomography from sequential exams over time, and not just a single exam, will often be combined with a less invasive procedure to increase diagnostic accuracy, which could be a liquid biopsy. “It’s the most promising technique for helping cancer diagnosis,” he says.
“Today, liquid biopsy for molecular stratification and determination of treatment for lung cancer management, especially non-small cell cancer, is a very acceptable protocol, mainly because you can avoid doing a traditional biopsy or bronchoalveolar lavage”, says Mariano Zalis, director of genomics from the Oncoclínicas Group. The other possible function of liquid biopsy is monitoring minimal residual disease after surgery. This type of examination allows you to detect whether there is tumor DNA circulating in the blood after surgery.
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