The Role of Circulating Tumor DNA in Cancer Management

Ihab Eldessouki¹, Mohamed Magdy², Mohamed Kamel^3*, Mohamed Rahouma³, Adam Sholi, N.⁴, Tatyana Zaytseva⁵, John Morris, C.¹ & Nagla Abdel Karim¹

¹Hematology-Oncology Department, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
²Children’s Hospital, Cairo, Egypt
³Department of Surgery, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
⁴Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, USA
⁵New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, USA

Dr. Mohamed Kamel, Department of Surgery, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

Keywords: DNA; Tumor Tissue Genotyping; Cancer Management

Abstract

Cancer treatment has evolved dramatically over the past decade owing to a better understanding of tumor cell biology and advances in tumor tissue genotyping (TTG). As more targetable genetic mutations are discovered, TTG has become decision-altering in patient management, particularly for cancers with few available traditional treatment options. Moreover, the increasing evidence demonstrating improved oncological outcomes and prognosis with early detection of cancer has made the search for new tumor biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity an area of particular interest within cancer research.
To maximize the benefit of available treatment options, primary and recurrent tumors should be biopsied to determine newly developed genetic mutations, which may contribute to tumor clonal selection and resistance to therapy.
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), has been extensively studied over the past few years with promising implications for early tumor detection and management. In this review we discuss the role of ctDNA in cancer management.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).