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Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Patients pp 195–200Cite as

Liquid Biopsies in Head and Neck Cancer Patients

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Part of the book series: Current Clinical Pathology ((CCPATH))

Abstract

The current diagnostic methods using clinical pathological information have been very useful in the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancers. However, given that all cancers are the result of genetic alterations with different aetiology and significant heterogeneity, the ‘one-size-fit-for-all’ treatment approach using systemic chemotherapy may result in some patients getting treatments that are not beneficial. A personalized approach based on individual patients’ genetic aberrations has the potential of targeting the driver mutations of the patients’ tumours with a promise of more effective targeted treatment. However, these drugs will invariably lead to resistance and disease relapse. Thus, it will be important to monitor the genetic alterations during drug therapy and to monitor treatment response. Repeated biopsies for the diagnosis of primary disease and recurrent disease as well as monitoring of treatment response will be particularly useful but will be invasive and not practical. The liquid biopsies using CTCs, ctDNA and circulating exosomes are promising alternatives to tissue biopsies although further validation is required to assess the correlation of these liquid biopsies to tissues to monitor genetic aberrations and its application in the diagnosis and management of cancers.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Head and Neck Studies (InHANSE), Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham, Robert Aitken Building, 2nd Floor, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    Anthony H. Kong

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  1. Anthony H. Kong
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Correspondence to Anthony H. Kong .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science and Technology, Temple University Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Antonio Russo

  2. Surgical and Oncological Sciences, University of Palermo School of Medicine, Palermo, Italy

    Antonio Giordano

  3. Oncology, University Hospital Antwerp, Edegem, Antwerpen, Belgium

    Christian Rolfo

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Kong, A.H. (2017). Liquid Biopsies in Head and Neck Cancer Patients. In: Russo, A., Giordano, A., Rolfo, C. (eds) Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Patients. Current Clinical Pathology. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55661-1_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55661-1_18

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-55659-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-55661-1

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