Practical Look at Liquid Biopsy

Liquid biopsy is one of the newer methods of sampling cancer genome using a blood sample. Commercial offerings in that arena are rapidly expanding and staying informed regarding available assays can be challenging. Potential applications of liquid biopsy are broad, and many are currently being studied in clinical trials. The anticipated results have the potential to change cancer patients’ management and improve outcomes in the near future. However, is there a benefit of using liquid biopsy in standard clinical care today? In what clinical scenarios can this approach be beneficial? This session will discuss the basics of liquid biopsy and present clinical scenarios where this approach can be useful in today’s workup of oncological patients.

Lecture Presenter
Anna P. Matynia, MD
Anna P. Matynia, MD
Associate Professor (Clinical) of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine
Subspecialty Director, Solid Tumor Non-NGS Molecular Pathology, ARUP Laboratories

Dr. Anna P. Matynia is a medical director of molecular oncology at ARUP Laboratories and an associate professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Matynia received her medical degree from Jagiellonian University. She then completed a hematopathology residency and fellowship as well as a molecular genetic pathology fellowship at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Her research interests include molecular diagnostics of hematolymphoid and solid tumor malignancies.

Objectives

After this presentation, participants will be able to:

Describe the principles of liquid biopsy as the method of sampling tumor genome with its advantages and disadvantages
Identify different categories of liquid biopsy assays currently available on the market and their limitations
Discuss different clinical scenarios where the use of liquid biopsy may be beneficial in the workup of cancer patients