Liquid biopsy in colorectal carcinoma: the search for potential prognostic and predictive biomarkers

Background: Liquid biopsy is considered a repeatable, non-invasive and dynamic tool. It could be able to recover from liquid samples (expecially blood)) cancer-specific informations (miRNAs, circulating-free DNA (cfDNA), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and exosomes) by overcoming the limitations associated with traditional tissue biopsy. Aim: to investigate the potential prognostic and predictive role of blood cancer-related biomarkers such as cfDNA or ctDNA and exosomal DNA in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Results: cfDNA or ctDNA and exosomal DNA could have a potential applicability in CRC management. New generation technologies are able to identify clinically relevant genomic alterations with performance comparable to tissue standards.