The Role of ctDNA and Liquid Biopsy in the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Head and Neck Cancer: Towards Precision Medicine

• Published in: Cancers Vol. 16; no. 18; p. 3129
• Main Authors: Nassar, Sami I, Suk, Amber, Nguyen, Shaun A, Adilbay, Dauren, Pang, John, Nathan, Cherie-Ann O
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 11.09.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Biomarkers; Biopsy; Body fluids; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Cell death; Cellular biology; Development and progression; Diagnosis; Disease; Diseases; DNA methylation; Drug therapy; Exocrine glands; Head & neck cancer; Head and neck; Head and neck cancer; Health aspects; Human papillomavirus; Hypoxia; Larynx; Literature reviews; Medical prognosis; Metabolites; Metastasis; Methylation; National libraries; Oncology; Patients; Plasma; Precision medicine; Relapse; Review; RNA; Tumor cells; Tumors; United States > US; genetic mutations; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; head and neck cancer; genomic sequencing; cancer biomarkers; ctDNA; liquid biopsy; oropharyngeal carcinoma; squamous cell carcinoma
• ISSN: 2072-6694; 2072-6694
• DOI: 10.3390/cancers16183129

Recent data have shown a continued rise in the worldwide annual incidence and mortality rates of head and neck cancers. The present standard for diagnosis and monitoring for disease recurrence or progression involves clinical examination, imaging, and invasive biopsy techniques of lesions suspected of being malignant. In addition to limitations relating to cost, time, and patient discomfort, these methodologies have inherent inaccuracies for detecting recurrence. In view of these limitations, the analysis of patient bodily fluid samples via liquid biopsy proposes a cost-effective and convenient alternative, which provides insight on the biogenetic and biomolecular underpinnings of oncologic disease processes. The monitoring of biomarkers for head and neck cancer via liquid biopsy, including circulating tumor DNA, circulating tumor cells, and circulating cell-free RNA, has shown clinical utility in the screening, diagnosis, prognostication, and monitoring of patients with various forms of head and neck cancer. The present review will provide an update on the current literature examining the use of liquid biopsy in head and neck cancer care and the clinical applicability of potential biomarkers, with a focus on viral and non-viral circulating tumor DNA. Possible future avenues for research to address specific shortcomings of liquid biopsy will be discussed.