The Role of Liquid Biopsy in Metastatic Prostate Cancer

• Autor(a) principal: Glória, Joana
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Nunes-Carneiro, Diogo, Fraga, Avelino
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.24915/aup.37.1-2.116
• topic: Biomarkers, Tumor; Liquid Biopsy; Prostatic Neoplasms; Biomarcadores Tumorais; Biópsia Líquida; Neoplasias da Prostata

Prostate cancer is the second most common malignancy in men. The high prevalence of prostate cancer, as well as its relatively indolent clinical course and the emerging therapeutic options, have led to the need to identify biomarkers that may aid in clinical decisions and may reflect response to treatments. “Liquid biopsy” is a generic term applied to the study of biomarkers attributed to tumors that are circulating in the body fluids of cancer patients. It relies on the principle that in these patients there are tumor cells and fragments with genomic content of tumor that circulate and can be detected and used as biomarkers for clinical application. Most of these biomarkers correlate with tumor burden and are most often identified in individuals with metastatic disease. The most studied biomarkers in prostate cancer patients can be subdivided into three major groups: circulating tumor cells, free genetic material (such as RNA and DNA - namely, microRNA and circulating free DNA) and extracellular vesicles (where there is inclusion of specific material and single tumor). This knowledge may allow the development of potential clinical applications from diagnosis to prognosis, as well as the development of predictive biomarkers of response to treatment and disease monitoring.