Liquid Biopsy in Gynecological Cancers

Gynecological cancers originate in woman’s reproductive organs, including ovarian, uterine or endometrial, cervical, vulvar, and vaginal cancers. These tumors are a leading health problem for women accounting for more than 20% of new cases and cancer-related deaths worldwide. Gynecological cancers are characterized by an aggressive biological behavior with a clinical presentation often in advanced stage of disease. This chapter will focus on the potential role of the novel molecular approaches based on liquid biopsy in detecting occult disease, monitoring the progression and identifying treatment-resistance in gynecological cancer patients. The ability to detect circulating tumor DNA (ct-DNA), Exosome and Circulating miRNA, as novel molecular biomarkers is possible thanks to the advent of novel high throughput sequencing technologies and new analytical techniques, which favoured the spreading of the personalized medicine worldwide. M. Castiglia and A. Listì authors contributed equally to this work.