Chasing ctDNA in Patients With Sarcoma

Abstract

Liquid biopsies are new technologies that allow cancer profiling of tumor fragments found in body fluids, such as peripheral blood, collected noninvasively from patients with malignancies. These assays are increasingly valuable in clinical oncology practice as prognostic biomarkers, as guides for therapy selection, for treatment monitoring, and for early detection of disease progression and relapse. However, application of these assays to rare cancers, such as pediatric and adult sarcomas, have lagged. In this article, we review the technical challenges of applying liquid biopsy technologies to sarcomas, provide an update on progress in the field, describe common pitfalls in interpreting liquid biopsy data, and discuss the intersection of sarcoma clinical care and commercial assays emerging on the horizon.