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Global Translational Medicine Computational advances in cancer liquid biopsy

Figure 2. Patient’s digital twin. Liquid biopsies have the potential to become a routine for screening and monitoring cancer patients, paving the way toward
a more personalized medicine where multi-modal patients’ data is combined to improve the characterization of individual tumors and provide the best
customized therapeutic option for each unique patient.

Originally pioneered in industry, digital twins, when microscopic imaging of very rare CTCs in the bloodstream
applied to healthcare, have sparked considerable debate remains significantly challenging. This highlights the
concerning their socio-ethical value versus risk. need for sensitive, quantitative strategies for the accurate
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Nevertheless, several initiatives are rising towards the screening of CTC-enriched blood specimens, where
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development of this technology, requiring the collaborative AI can offer valuable support. By leveraging the
effort of multiple experts, including clinicians, modelers, molecular insights gained from CTC computational
computational scientists, software engineers, regulatory analysis, clinicians can go beyond traditional CTC
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experts, and ethicists. Hopefully, further experimental evaluation methods to identify actionable alterations,
and analytic innovations will lead to better patient monitor tumor reoccurrence, and customize follow-up
characterization and treatment. for individual patients, thereby enhancing therapeutic
efficacy and minimizing unnecessary treatments and
9. Clinical utility of computational methods invasive procedures. CTCs offer comprehensive biological
information, and their viability also allows for ex vivo drug
The field of medical oncology has significantly advanced screening in personalized medicine. To advance this
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due to progress in NGS technologies, which are now field and fully utilize cutting-edge computational methods,
standard diagnostic tools. Real-time monitoring standardized assays for detecting, isolating, and culturing
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using liquid biopsies has also become a reality in cancer CTCs, along with optimizing blood sampling time points,
treatment. Translational and clinical researchers today are crucial.
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face the significant challenge of dissecting complex
information into discrete clinical effects to ultimately 10. Conclusion
benefit cancer patients. In their complete review, Siravegna
and colleagues highlight the advantages and best In this review, we explore various approaches to studying
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practices of using advanced computational technologies liquid biopsy cancer specimens, including genomics,
to fully exploit liquid biopsy data for cancer management, transcriptomics, epigenomics, and proteomics, with a
focus on the computational methods used for data analysis
including guiding therapy decisions as a companion
diagnostic by developing predictive classifiers, providing and interpretation. We also examine the advantages
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new biomarkers, and detecting MRD, potentially and challenges associated with each technique. As we
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20
improving patient survival rates. navigate liquid biopsies using bioinformatics and AI as
our compasses, we envision a future where multi-modal
As for ctDNA, the prognostic value of CTCs in sample analysis becomes integral to liquid biopsy studies
various cancer types supports their use in personalized – a “holistic” approach that enhances our understanding
risk stratification and disease monitoring. While the of disease mechanisms and improves our capabilities in
translational impact of CTC research is profound, cancer diagnostics and prognostics.

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2024) 9 doi: 10.36922/gtm.3063