Course Outline
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- Definition and History of Liquid Biopsy Testing
- Tissue versus Liquid Biopsies: Advantages and Limitations
- Tissue Biopsies
- Primary Molecular Biomarkers Detected by Liquid Biopsy Assay
- The Advantages and Limitations of Liquid Biopsies
- True or False: For cancer patients, the tissue biopsy is a standard procedure used to pinpoint a cancer’s mutations and degree of malignancy.
- When compared to tissue biopsy, what is one advantage of a liquid biopsy?
- Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs)
- Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA)
- Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA): Definition and Clinical Significance
- Which of the following statements is true for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)?
- Exosomes
- Exosomes: Definition and Clinical Significance
- True or False: Exosomes are cell-derived vesicles in body fluids that play a key role in coagulation and are known to be released from tumors into the...
- Which of the following statements is accurate regarding the clinical significance and importance of exosomes?
- Liquid Biopsy and Personalized Medicine
- Liquid Biopsy Technology Overview: Commercial Methods
- Liquid Biopsy Technology Overview
- With regard to the steps involved when performing a typical liquid biopsy assay, which of the following statements is incorrect?
- The CELLSEARCH® CTC Test
- The CELLSEARCH® CTC Test: Reports and Interpretation
- Which statement is incorrect when describing the CELLSEARCH® CTC liquid biopsy test?
- A CELLSEARCH® Test result for a metastatic breast cancer (mBC) patient was reported as eight (8) CTCs. How would this result be interpreted?
- The test results of the CELLSEARCH® Test are reported as CTC levels that indicate a favorable versus unfavorable prognosis for certain metastatic...
- The cobas® EGFR Mutation Test v2
- True or False: The cobas® EGFR Mutation Test v2 has been approved by the FDA to detect EGFR mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patie...
- Exosome Diagnostics ExoDx™ Lung(ALK)
- What is isolated and analyzed by the ExoDx™ Lung(ALK) test and detects EML4-ALK fusion transcripts in the plasma of lung cancer patients?
- True or False: The ExoDx™ Lung(ALK) test is an exosome-based clinical liquid biopsy assay, designed to identify the EGFR-ALK gene fusion which c...
- What is the exoRNeasy system used in the ExoDx™ Lung(ALK) test?
- The Future of Liquid Biopsy Testing
- References
Additional Information
Level of Instruction: Beginner
Intended Audience: Medical laboratory scientists and technicians. This course is also appropriate for medical laboratory science students and pathology residents.
Author Information: David J. Moffa, PhD, BCLD has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry as an executive manager, clinical laboratory director, and medical laboratory scientist. He is currently a technical consultant for Kentmere Healthcare, Wilmington, DE, and until his retirement, was the Regional Director for LabCorp, Inc. He holds a PhD in medical biochemistry from the School of Medicine at West Virginia University.
The author has no conflict of interest to disclose.
Reviewer Information: Judi
Bennett, BSM, MLS(AMT), MLT(ASCP), is an Education Developer with MediaLab by
Vastian and a medical laboratory professional with over 30 years of experience.
She has held leadership roles, including Clinical Laboratory Manager,
Microbiology Supervisor, and Senior Systems Analyst at Gwinnett Health System
in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Judi is passionate about advancing healthcare
quality through innovative and engaging laboratory education.
Course Description: Liquid biopsy is a rapidly advancing field with a growing number of companies involved in the development of these assays for the diagnosis and stratification of cancer patients. Because liquid biopsy can potentially provide a comprehensive, real-time assessment of the whole tumor burden for an individual patient, many experts believe it has the potential to replace the standard tissue biopsy. This course will discuss the primary molecular biomarkers detected in blood via liquid biopsy assay, including circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), and exosomes.
