The significance of using liquid biopsy to improve treatment outcomes for metastatic patients

Abstract Liquid biopsies gained momentum interest in the area of cancer management. This study aims to evaluate the ability of ctDNA to; detect genetic alteration, screen abnormalities, detect the mutations associated with treatment sensitivity or resistance and guide therapy decision making for metastatic patients. In this study, 85 samples were performed from 74 patients recruited in our center, as part of their routine clinical follow-up. 17 various cancers were analyzed. Genetic testing was conducted in metastatic patients after failure of standard treatments. Sequencing was conducted in blood-ctDNA samples; and when it was possible on the tumor tissue as well. By analyzing the results, we found that 88% of our patients were eligible for treatment guidance using liquid biopsy. In our cohort 81% of cases were detected with at least two mutations, 11% had no detected mutation, and 8% were detected with only one mutation. Among 71 mutated genes detected, we observed that BRCA2, EGFR2, MSH6 and NF1 genes were the most mutated. This study is the first to demonstrate that a significant number of patients, regardless of their cancer type, could reap the benefits of personalized medicine through a straightforward non-invasive genetic test.