2. Academic Validation
  3. The Practicality of the Use of Liquid Biopsy in Early Diagnosis and Treatment Monitoring of Oral Cancer in Resource-Limited Settings

The Practicality of the Use of Liquid Biopsy in Early Diagnosis and Treatment Monitoring of Oral Cancer in Resource-Limited Settings

  • Cancers (Basel). 2022 Feb 23;14(5):1139. doi: 10.3390/cancers14051139.
Henry Ademola Adeola 1 2,  Ibrahim O Bello 3,  Raphael Taiwo Aruleba 4,  Ngiambudulu M Francisco 5,  Tayo Alex Adekiya 6,  Anthonio Oladele Adefuye 7,  Paul Chukwudi Ikwegbue 8,  Fungai Musaigwa 8
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Western Cape, Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town 7505, South Africa.
  • 2 Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences and Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, Observatory, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
  • 3 Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh 11545, Saudi Arabia.
  • 4 Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa.
  • 5 Grupo de Investigação Microbiana e Imunológica, Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (National Institute for Health Research), Luanda 3635, Angola.
  • 6 Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, School of Therapeutic Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Parktown, 7 York Road, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa.
  • 7 Division of Health Sciences Education, Office of the Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa.
  • 8 Division of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
PMID: 35267452 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14051139
Abstract

An important driving force for precision and individualized medicine is the provision of tailor-made care for patients on an individual basis, in accordance with best evidence practice. Liquid biopsy(LB) has emerged as a critical tool for the early diagnosis of Cancer and for treatment monitoring, but its clinical utility for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) requires more research and validation. Hence, in this review, we have discussed the current applications of LB and the practicality of its routine use in Africa; the potential advantages of LB over the conventional "gold-standard" of tissue biopsy; and finally, practical considerations were discussed in three parts: pre-analytic, analytic processing, and the statistical quality and postprocessing phases. Although it is imperative to establish clinically validated and standardized working guidelines for various aspects of LB sample collection, processing, and analysis for optimal and reliable use, manpower and technological infrastructures may also be an important factor to consider for the routine clinical application of LB for OSCC. LB is poised as a non-invasive precision tool for personalized oral Cancer medicine, particularly for OSCC in Africa, when fully embraced. The promising application of different LB approaches using various downstream analyses such as released circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cell free DNA (cfDNA), MicroRNA (miRNA), messenger RNA (mRNA), and salivary exosomes were discussed. A better understanding of the diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers of OSCC, using LB applications, would significantly reduce the cost, provide an opportunity for prompt detection and early treatment, and a method to adequately monitor the effectiveness of the therapy for OSCC, which typically presents with ominous prognosis.

Keywords

Africa; cfDNA; circulating tumour cells; exosomes; liquid biopsy; oral squamous cell carcinoma.

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