Liquid biopsy genotyping in lung cancer: ready for clinical utility?

// Wei-Lun Huang 1,* , Yi-Lin Chen 2,* , Szu-Chun Yang 1,* , Chung-Liang Ho 2 , Fang Wei 3 , David T. Wong 3 , Wu-Chou Su 1,4 and Chien-Chung Lin 1,4 1 Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan 2 Department of Pathology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan 3 School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA 4 Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan * These authors have contributed equally to this study Correspondence to: Chien-Chung Lin, email: // Wu-Chou Su, email: // Keywords : ctDNA, CTC, EGFR mutation, T790M Received : August 15, 2016 Accepted : January 04, 2017 Published : January 12, 2017 Abstract Liquid biopsy is a blood test that detects evidence of cancer cells or tumor DNA in the circulation. Despite complicated collection methods and the requirement for technique-dependent platforms, it has generated substantial interest due, in part, to its potential to detect driver oncogenes such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutants in lung cancer. This technology is advancing rapidly and is being incorporated into numerous EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) development programs. It appears ready for integration into clinical care. Recent studies have demonstrated that biological fluids such as saliva and urine can also be used for detecting EGFR mutant DNA through application other user-friendly techniques. This review focuses on the clinical application of liquid biopsies to lung cancer genotyping, including EGFR and other targets of genotype-directed therapy and compares multiple platforms used for liquid biopsy.