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Abstract Details
Liquid Biopsy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Where Are We Now?
Cancers (Basel). 2021 May 10;13(9):2274. doi: 10.3390/cancers13092274.
Filippo Pelizzaro1, Romilda Cardin1, Barbara Penzo1, Elisa Pinto1, Alessandro Vitale2, Umberto Cillo2, Francesco Paolo Russo1, Fabio Farinati1
Author information
1Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, University of Padua, 35128 Padua, Italy.
2Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation Unit, Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, University of Padua, 35128 Padua, Italy.
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer related death worldwide. Diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers are urgently needed in order to improve patient survival. Indeed, the most widely used biomarkers, such as alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), have limited accuracy as both diagnostic and prognostic tests. Liver biopsy provides an insight on the biology of the tumor, but it is an invasive procedure, not routinely used, and not representative of the whole neoplasia due to the demonstrated intra-tumoral heterogeneity. In recent years, liquid biopsy, defined as the molecular analysis of cancer by-products, released by the tumor in the bloodstream, emerged as an appealing source of new biomarkers. Several studies focused on evaluating extracellular vesicles, circulating tumor cells, cell-free DNA and non-coding RNA as novel reliable biomarkers. In this review, we aimed to provide a comprehensive overview on the most relevant available evidence on novel circulating biomarkers for early diagnosis, prognostic stratification, and therapeutic monitoring. Liquid biopsy seems to be a very promising instrument and, in the near future, some of these new non-invasive tools will probably change the clinical management of HCC patients.