Gliomas are the cause of death in the vast majority of patients with cancer of the central nervous system. Diagnosis of these neoplasms requires the use of stereotactic biopsy, which cannot be performed in all patients. In addition, this disease is characterized by a high recurrence rate, despite advances in the development of resection and chemotherapy technologies. Their early detection and differential diagnosis with pseudoprogression of the tumor, which does not affect patient survival, poses a challenge for modern medicine.
Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive diagnostic method based on the analysis of tumor derivatives (such as extracellular tumor DNA and RNA) found in biological fluids of the body. To determine the tumor component, the so-called analysis is used. “Hot-spot” mutations and patterns of epigenetic regulation inherent in a certain type of tumor. This technology can be used to detect tumor recurrences and differential diagnosis of space-occupying lesions in patients for whom stereotactic biopsy is contraindicated.
This review discusses modern advances in liquid biopsy based on the analysis of extracellular tumor DNA and RNA in the blood plasma and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with gliomas.