How Imaging Tech And Liquid Biopsy Will Play Pivotal Role In Cancer Care

A core tenet of precision medicine is to simplify the delivery of the right treatment to the right patient at the right dose and at the right time.

Precision Oncology is rapidly developing and currently includes molecular profiling of tumours to identify targetable alterations.

At the core of Precision Oncology is a patient-centric approach. 2023 marks the year of the 20th anniversary of the conclusion of the Human Genome Project. Today, the use of genotyping and genomics have become essentials in standards and researchers and the industry is looking into expanding to include big data, proteomics, transcriptomics, molecular imaging, and more, to translate that ideal into meaningful and equitable healthcare for patients.

Recent rapid developments within the liquid biopsy and medical imaging technologies should encourage radiologists to view it as an opportunity to find synergistic ways of combinational techniques to improve personalised medicine and optimise patient care.

Biomarkers and Digital Biomarkers

Biomarkers are molecules that have different expressions in tumour cells than in normal body cells, and can be used for diagnosis, prediction of sensitivity to treatment, and prognosis. Especially ctDNA (Circulating tumour DNA) which can be found in fluids has gained significant attention. This is especially because ctDNA can easily be obtained through a simple blood draw – a liquid biopsy – and is used as a non-invasive biomarker to identify tumour-specific abnormalities. As a less invasive technique as compared to solid biopsy, liquid biopsy has the potential to be used to detect and monitor the presence and progression of cancer.