Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Meta-Anal. Jun 18, 2025; 13(2): 107997
Published online Jun 18, 2025. doi: 10.13105/wjma.v13.i2.107997
Liquid biopsy in hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers: A paradigm shift in early detection, prognostic stratification, and perioperative monitoring
Himanshu Agrawal, Binita Goswami, Nikhil Gupta, Nilanjana Singh
Himanshu Agrawal, Nilanjana Singh, Department of Surgery, University College of Medical Sciences (University of Delhi), GTB Hospital, Delhi 110095, India
Binita Goswami, Department of Biochemistry, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi 110002, India
Nikhil Gupta, Department of Surgery, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Delhi 110001, India
Author contributions: Agrawal H and Gupta N contributed to research conception and design; Agrawal H and Singh N contributed to data acquisition; Gupta N, Agrawal H, and Singh N contributed to data analysis and interpretation; Singh N and Agrawal H contributed to drafting of the manuscript; Gupta N, Agrawal H, and Goswami B contributed to critical revision of the manuscript; Gupta N and Goswami B contributed to supervision; Gupta N, Agrawal H, Singh N, and Goswami B contributed to approval of the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no competing interests.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Nikhil Gupta, FACS, FRCS (Gen Surg), Professor, Department of Surgery, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, BKS Marg, Delhi 110001, India. nikhil_ms26@yahoo.co.in
Received: April 2, 2025
Revised: April 10, 2025
Accepted: May 8, 2025
Published online: June 18, 2025
Processing time: 75 Days and 12.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive technique that detects circulating tumor DNA, circulating tumor cells, and other biomarkers in bodily fluids. It offers real-time monitoring of tumor dynamics, treatment response, and minimal residual disease. Unlike traditional tissue biopsies, liquid biopsy allows for repeated sampling, providing insights into tumor heterogeneity and evolution. It has applications in early cancer detection, prognosis, and guiding targeted therapies. Despite its advantages, challenges such as standardization, sensitivity, and specificity remain. Further research and technological advancements are needed to enhance its clinical utility.