Liquid Biopsies in the Clinical Management of Germ Cell Tumor Patients: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions

Lobo, João; Leão, Ricardo; Jerónimo, Carmen; Henrique, Rui

doi:10.3390/ijms22052654

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Liquid Biopsies in the Clinical Management of Germ Cell Tumor Patients: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions

¹

Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, IPO Porto Research Center (GEBC CI-IPOP), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto) & Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center (P.CCC), R. Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal

²

Department of Pathology, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPOP), R. Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal

³

Department of Pathology and Molecular Immunology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-513 Porto, Portugal

⁴

Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Rua Larga, 3000-370 Coimbra, Portugal

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

Joint senior authors.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(5), 2654; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22052654

Submission received: 7 February 2021 / Revised: 25 February 2021 / Accepted: 2 March 2021 / Published: 6 March 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Liquid Biopsies in Cancer Diagnosis, Monitoring and Prognosis)

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Abstract

Liquid biopsies constitute a minimally invasive means of managing cancer patients, entailing early diagnosis, follow-up and prediction of response to therapy. Their use in the germ cell tumor field is invaluable since diagnostic tissue biopsies (which are invasive) are often not performed, and therefore only a presumptive diagnosis can be made, confirmed upon examination of the surgical specimen. Herein, we provide an overall review of the current liquid biopsy-based biomarkers of this disease, including the classical, routinely used serum tumor markers—the promising microRNAs rapidly approaching the introduction into clinical practice—but also cell-free DNA markers (including DNA methylation) and circulating tumor cells. Finally, and importantly, we also explore novel strategies and challenges for liquid biopsy markers and methodologies, providing a critical view of the future directions for liquid biopsy tests in this field, highlighting gaps and unanswered questions.

Keywords: germ cell tumors; liquid biopsies; microRNAs; DNA methylation; circulating tumor cells; biomarkers; diagnosis; follow-up; serum tumor markers

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MDPI and ACS Style

Lobo, J.; Leão, R.; Jerónimo, C.; Henrique, R. Liquid Biopsies in the Clinical Management of Germ Cell Tumor Patients: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22, 2654. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22052654

AMA Style

Lobo J, Leão R, Jerónimo C, Henrique R. Liquid Biopsies in the Clinical Management of Germ Cell Tumor Patients: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021; 22(5):2654. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22052654

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lobo, João, Ricardo Leão, Carmen Jerónimo, and Rui Henrique. 2021. "Liquid Biopsies in the Clinical Management of Germ Cell Tumor Patients: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22, no. 5: 2654. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22052654

APA Style

Lobo, J., Leão, R., Jerónimo, C., & Henrique, R. (2021). Liquid Biopsies in the Clinical Management of Germ Cell Tumor Patients: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(5), 2654. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22052654

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Liquid Biopsies in the Clinical Management of Germ Cell Tumor Patients: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions

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