Rompianesi G, Di Martino M, Gordon-Weeks A, Montalti R, Troisi R. Liquid biopsy in cholangiocarcinoma: Current status and future perspectives. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2021; 13(5): 332-350 [PMID: 34040697 DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v13.i5.332]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Gianluca Rompianesi, MD, PhD, FEBS, Assistant Professor, Surgeon, Hepato-Bilio-Pancreatic, Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University Hospital, via S. Pansini 5, Napoli 80131, Italy. gianlucarompianesi@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Oncol. May 15, 2021; 13(5): 332-350 Published online May 15, 2021. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v13.i5.332
Liquid biopsy in cholangiocarcinoma: Current status and future perspectives
Gianluca Rompianesi, Marcello Di Martino, Alex Gordon-Weeks, Roberto Montalti, Roberto Troisi
Gianluca Rompianesi, Roberto Montalti, Roberto Troisi, Hepato-Bilio-Pancreatic, Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University Hospital, Napoli 80131, Italy
Marcello Di Martino, Hepato-Bilio-Pancreatic Surgery Unit, Department of General and Digestive Surgery, Hospital Universitario La Princesa, Madrid 28006, Spain
Alex Gordon-Weeks, Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Rompianesi G and Di Martino M wrote the paper; Gordon-Weeks A, Montalti R and Troisi R reviewed and edited the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All Authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Gianluca Rompianesi, MD, PhD, FEBS, Assistant Professor, Surgeon, Hepato-Bilio-Pancreatic, Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University Hospital, via S. Pansini 5, Napoli 80131, Italy. gianlucarompianesi@gmail.com
Received: January 27, 2021 Peer-review started: January 27, 2021 First decision: March 1, 2021 Revised: March 2, 2021 Accepted: March 31, 2021 Article in press: March 31, 2021 Published online: May 15, 2021
Abstract
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) are a heterogeneous group of tumors in terms of aetiology, natural history, morphological subtypes, molecular alterations and management, but all sharing complex diagnosis, management, and poor prognosis. Several mutated genes and epigenetic changes have been detected in CCA, with the potential to identify diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Accessing tumoral components and genetic material is therefore crucial for the diagnosis, management and selection of targeted therapies; but sampling tumor tissue, when possible, is often risky and difficult to be repeated at different time points. Liquid biopsy (LB) represents a way to overcome these issues and comprises a diverse group of methodologies centering around detection of tumor biomarkers from fluid samples. Compared to the traditional tissue sampling methods LB is less invasive and can be serially repeated, allowing a real-time monitoring of the tumor genetic profile or the response to therapy. In this review, we analysis the current evidence on the possible roles of LB (circulating DNA, circulating RNA, exosomes, cytokines) in the diagnosis and management of patients affected by CCA.
Core Tip: Liquid biopsy allows to access tumoral components and genetic material from fluid samples. In patients affected by cholangiocarcinoma could play a major role as minimally invasive screening and diagnostic biomarker, prognostic tool and therapeutic monitoring target, but its role in the clinical practice is still marginal and further research is necessary.
