Dr. Husain on Liquid Biopsy Versus Tissue Biopsy in NSCLC

Hatim Husain, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego, discusses the utility of liquid biopsies versus tissue biopsies in non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

While in many cases tissue biopsy and liquid biopsy results reveal similar findings, there are some instances where a genomic aberration is found in one but not the other, explains Husain.

Regarding liquid biopsies, predicting where sites of metastasis are likely to occur may aid in effective detection of circulating tumor DNA in the plasma, says Husain. Additionally, patients on therapy may experience less tumor shedding which may influence the liquid biopsy results.

Lastly, genomic findings in the plasma may mimic tumor indicators as a result of clonal hematopoiesis in genes that derive from bone marrow cells, Husain concludes.