Current status of cell-free DNA in head and neck cancer management

Abstract

Tissue biopsies are temporally and spatially limited and often provide a brief snapshot of a single region of a heterogeneous tumor. Carcinogenesis is a complex process in which heterogeneity plays an important role in the development and progression. Research efforts are going on focusing on the discovery of new, noninvasive methods for the diagnosis, and comprehension of the tumor genomic architecture to monitor tumor evolution and therapeutic response in real time. Liquid biopsy is a noninvasive diagnostic tool that can provide a personalized snapshot of primary and metastatic tumor at successive time points, providing knowledge of the tumor burden so as to detect early evidence of recurrence or resistance to the disease and helping clinicians in their therapeutic decision-making. Therefore, using liquid biopsies, we can obtain a molecular profile for each patient. We intended to review cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in oral cancer. We described cfDNA considering their levels, diagnostic value, prognostic value, predictive value.