Liquid Biopsy as a Tool for the Diagnosis, Treatment, and Monitoring of Breast Cancer

Exosomes and circular RNAs: promising partners in hepatocellular carcinoma from bench to bedside

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by high morbidity and mortality, and a low 5-year survival rate. Exploring the potential molecular mechanisms, finding diagnostic biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity, and determining new therapeutic targets for HCC are urgently needed. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been found to play a key role in the occurrence and development of HCC, while exosomes play an important role in intercellular communication; thus, the combination of circRNAs and exosomes may have inestimable potential in early diagnosis and curative therapy. Previous studies have shown that exosomes can transfer circRNAs from normal or abnormal cells to surrounding or distant cells; thereafter, circRNAs influence target cells. This review summarizes the recent progress regarding the roles of exosomal circRNAs in the diagnosis, prognosis, occurrence and development and immune checkpoint inhibitor and tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance of HCC to provide inspiration for further research.

NTRK fusions in thyroid cancer: Pathology and clinical aspects

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine cancer. Neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) fusions are oncogenic drivers in multiple solid tumors, including thyroid cancer. NTRK fusion thyroid cancer has unique pathological features such as mixed structure, multiple nodes, lymph node metastasis, and a background of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. Currently, RNA-based next-generation sequencing is the gold standard for the detection of NTRK fusions. Tropomyosin receptor kinase inhibitors have shown promising efficacy in patients with NTRK fusion-positive thyroid cancer. Efforts to overcome acquired drug resistance are the focus of research concerning next-generation TRK inhibitors. However, there are no authoritative recommendations or standardized procedures for the diagnosis and treatment of NTRK fusions in thyroid cancer. This review discusses current research progress regarding NTRK fusion-positive thyroid cancer, summarizes the clinicopathological features of the disease, and outlines the current statuses of NTRK fusion detection and targeted therapeutic agents.

Research trend of circulating tumor DNA associated with breast cancer from 2012 to 2021: A bibliometric analysis

Background

Recently, ctDNA has become the focus for scientists with respect to personalized treatment, early screening, precise diagnosis, and prognosis of BC. This paper aims to use bibliometric analysis to investigate the research status and future trends in this field.

Methods

All the related literature in the field of ctDNA and breast cancer was gathered from the Web of Science Core Collection. Data analyses were performed with R package Bibliometrics, VOS viewer 1.6.18, and online analysis in WoS. IBM SPSS (version 26.0) was used for statistical analysis.

Results

A total of 739 publications, including 472 articles and 267 reviews, were retrieved. The overall number of articles published showed an upward trend. The United States has the largest number of published articles (266 papers) and citations (20,225 times). The most productive journal was Clinical Cancer Research. Cristofanilli M was the most prolific author, while Carlos C was the most cited one. The most frequent keywords excluding the search subject were "liquid biopsy", "plasma", "mutations", "metastatic breast cancer", "acquired resistance".

Conclusion

This article explored the application value of ctDNA in breast cancer with bibliometric analysis, offering an overall and intuitive understanding of this topic and revealing the study trends in the past ten years.

Cell-Free DNA Fragmentomics: A Promising Biomarker for Diagnosis, Prognosis and Prediction of Response in Breast Cancer

Identifying novel circulating biomarkers predictive of response and informative about the mechanisms of resistance, is the new challenge for breast cancer (BC) management. The integration of omics information will gradually revolutionize the clinical approach. Liquid biopsy is being incorporated into the diagnostic and decision-making process for the treatment of BC, in particular with the analysis of circulating tumor DNA, although with some relevant limitations, including costs. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragmentomics and its integrity index may become a cheaper, noninvasive biomarker that could provide significant additional information for monitoring response to systemic treatments in BC. The purpose of our review is to focus on the available research on cfDNA integrity and its features as a biomarker of diagnosis, prognosis and response to treatments in BC, highlighting new perspectives and critical issues for future applications.