Clinical applications of circulating tumor DNA in monitoring breast cancer drug resistance.

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. Unfortunately, treatments often fail because of the development of drug resistance, the underlying mechanisms of which remain unclear. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is free DNA released into the blood by necrosis, apoptosis or direct secretion by tumor cells. In contrast to repeated, highly invasive tumor biopsies, ctDNA reflects all molecular alterations of tumors dynamically and captures both spatial and temporal tumor heterogeneity. Highly sensitive technologies, including personalized digital PCR and deep sequencing, make it possible to monitor response to therapies, predict drug resistance and tailor treatment regimens by identifying the genomic alteration profile of ctDNA, thereby achieving precision medicine. This review focuses on the current status of ctDNA biology, the technologies used to detect ctDNA and the potential clinical applications of identifying drug resistance mechanisms by detecting tumor-specific genomic alterations in breast cancer.

• Authors: Yang Liu, Qian Du, Dan Sun, Ruiying Han, Mengmeng Teng, Siying Chen, Haisheng You, Yalin Dong
• Journal: Future oncology (London, England) (Future Oncol) Vol. 16 Issue 34 Pg. 2863-2878 (Dec 2020) ISSN: 1744-8301 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 32976028 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Circulating Tumor DNA
• ESR1 protein, human
• Estrogen Receptor alpha

Topics

• Breast Neoplasms (drug therapy, genetics, pathology)
• Circulating Tumor DNA (blood)
• DNA Methylation
• Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
• Estrogen Receptor alpha (genetics)
• Female
• Gene Dosage
• High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
• Humans
• Mutation
• Whole Genome Sequencing