The practicality of the use of liquid biopsy in early diagnosis and treatment monitoring of oral cancer in resource- limited settings

Abstract

An important driving force for precision and individualized medicine is the provision of tailor-made care for patients on an individual basis, in accordance with best evidence practice. Liquid biopsy(LB) has emerged as a critical tool for the early diagnosis of cancer and for treatment monitoring, but its clinical utility for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) requires more research and validation. Hence, in this review, we have discussed the current applications of LB and the practicality of its routine use in Africa; the potential advantages of LB over the conventional “gold-standard” of tissue biopsy; and finally, practical considerations were discussed in three parts: pre-analytic, analytic processing, and the statistical quality and postprocessing phases.

Description

Keywords

Oral Cancer, Liquid biopsy, Tumour cells, Oral squamous cell carcinoma, Africa

Citation

Adeola, .H. A. et al. (2022). The practicality of the use of liquid biopsy in early diagnosis and treatment monitoring of oral cancer in resource- limited settings. Cancers, 14(5),1139. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14051139