This application seeks to support a Gordon Research Conference (GRC) and Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) entitled ?Liquid Biopsy for Cancer?. The analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and tumor cell products (DNA, RNA, extracellular vesicles) released into the blood may provide clinically-relevant information, and can be collected using a non-invasive blood draw referred to as ?liquid biopsy?. Liquid biopsy analyses with highly sensitive and specific bioanalytical platforms provide important information enabling early detection of cancer, identification of cancer patients at risk to develop relapse (prognosis), and it may serve to monitor tumor evolution, identify therapeutic targets or mechanisms of resistance on metastatic cells. Metastatic cells may possess unique characteristics that can differ from the bulk of cancer cells in the primary tumor currently used for stratification of patients to systemic therapy. Moreover, monitoring of blood samples before, during and after systemic therapy (e.g., chemotherapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy) can provide unique information for the future clinical management of the individual cancer patient and might serve as surrogate marker for response to therapy. This conference will focus on the biology behind liquid biopsy biomarkers, new technical developments and members of the liquid biopsy biomarker family and how liquid biopsy analysis can be used to improve the management of cancer patients and contribute to precision medicine.
This application seeks to support the 2020 Liquid Biopsy for Cancer GRC/GRS. Liquid Biopsy is an approach to noninvasively collecting information on the molecular-level status of a tumor using molecules and cells collected from a patient blood sample, and can be used for real-time monitoring of cancer patients. This conference will address clinical progress in the area of Liquid Biopsy and new detection technologies that will facilitate widespread adoption.
