Liquid Biopsy
The analysis of tumours using biomarkers in blood
A liquid biopsy is the sampling and analysis of non-solid biological tissue, primarily blood.
This non-invasive technique is mainly used as a diagnostic and monitoring tool for diseases such as cancer.
Applications
Circulating Tumour DNA (ctDNA) Oncology
Liquid biopsies constitute the non-invasive analyses of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) from a blood sample. The test may be used to detect cancer at an early stage. Taking multiple liquid biopsy samples over time also allows monitoring of tumour progression and treatment effects.
The ctDNA shed from cancerous tumours contains genetic information that can support tumour molecular profiling, identify emerging resistance to treatment and monitor treatment progress. They have the potential to transform cancer therapy, through more precise monitoring of treatment efficacy and assessment of dynamic changes in tumour as a result of prior therapy.
Biomarker in Solid Organ Transplantation
The presence of allograft donor-specific DNA circulating in the bloodstream of transplant recipients is thought to result from organ injury.
It has been demonstrated that donor-specific DNA can be quantified in the recipients of kidney, liver, and heart transplants.
As cfDNA can be used as a non-invasive marker for monitoring acute organ transplant rejection, it represents a potential replacement for current monitoring by frequent biopsies which is costly and can lead to complications.
Liquid biopsy may be used to help plan treatment and validate the efficiency of a cancer treatment drug. It may also help doctors understand what kind of molecular changes are taking place in a tumour.
The technology can also prove beneficial for patients after treatment, to monitor relapse.
cfDNA Deterioration
cfDNA has a half-life of two hours and starts to deteriorate immediately after blood collection. This necessitates immediate processing of the blood for analysis.
In reality, most of the blood processing and analysis happens at a remote lab. The transport and storage can lead to a gap of 1-7 days between collection and processing. Maintaining cfDNA integrity and preventing release of genomic DNA from the nucleated cells is critical to acquiring high quality data.
Cell-Free DNA BCT® CE Blood Collection Tubes for Liquid Biopsy Samples
Pre-Analytical Workflows
Streck’s Cell-Free DNA BCT® simplifies collection, storage, and shipping of whole blood samples for circulating tumor biomarker assays.
The stabilising reagent included in the Cell-Free DNA BCT enables nucleated blood cells to withstand the stressors of pre-analytical sample handling post-phlebotomy.
The reagent protects the original proportions of cfDNA for up to 14 days and CTCs up to 7 days.
The unique stabilisation prevents the release of genomic DNA (gDNA), allowing isolation of high quality cfDNA which can be further used for a wide range of downstream applications in clinical research studies, drug discovery and diagnostic assay development (e.g. non-invasive prenatal testing, NIPT; liquid biopsies; post transplantation non-invasive graft monitoring).
Benefits
Cell-Free DNA BCT®
Demonstrated to minimise the degradation of CTCs.
Reduces the need for immediate plasma preparation
cfDNA and gDNA are stable for up to 14 days at 6°C to 37°C
Convenient sample collection, transport and storage
Enhanced stability and recovery of cell-free plasma DNA minimises variability associated with cell-free DNA sample preparation
95kPa certified to IATA standard making them suitable for both road and air transport.
