Liquid Biopsies Become More Common for Gastric and GI Cancers

Joseph Kim, MD, chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology at the University of Kentucky, discusses the utility of liquid biopsies in patients with gastric or gastrointestinal (GI) cancer at the 2020 GI Cancers Symposium held by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Kim says that liquid biopsies are currently in their infancy for diagnostics in the GI setting, and this is also the case for patients with gastric cancer. Although liquid biopsies are being tested in a number of cancers, it is particularly important for patients with gastric cancer because it can be difficult to get enough tissue from the tumor to get all the genetic testing physicians need for these patients with a tissue biopsy.

When using liquid biopsies, physicians will be provided with an avenue to get that data they may have otherwise not been able to obtain with a tissue biopsy. As liquid biopsies become more widely used, there is the potential to change the kinds of treatments that physicians can offer patients in this setting.

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