Liquid Biopsy In Oncology: An Increasingly Crowded Landscape

Liquid biopsies – carrying out diagnostic tests on liquid samples such as blood or urine rather than on tissue biopsy material – look set to revolutionize the management of cancer patients. This area has recently captured the interest of a growing number of diagnostic players, both big and small, and spawned the development of different approaches to liquid biopsy. This article marks out who's who in this increasingly busy landscape and the key technologies that are showing promise, and looks at the obstacles that companies are facing.

PCR strip test tubes and micropipette in genetics laboratory. Toned photo
Liquid biopsy potential in cancer management grows • Source: Shutterstock

The ability to diagnose a tumor and monitor its progression and response to treatment without the need to obtain a tissue biopsy has been a long-standing goal of cancer management. This capability is now in hand thanks to the technology known as liquid biopsy, currently one of the most exciting sectors of the in vitro diagnostics market.

The term ‘liquid biopsy’ is used to refer to a noninvasive diagnostic test that can identify various types of cancer or other conditions by detecting biomarkers in fluid samples such...

Although the main target of efforts to develop liquid biopsy products up to now has been cancer, the technology also has other potential applications, such as prenatal diagnosis of chromosome...

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