New page on Liquid biopsy

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On hearing the words “liquid biopsy”, immediately our minds fill with so many questions... “What is liquid biopsy?” Biopsy usually means taking a sample of a diseased tissue for analysis. Here, "liquid biopsy" then means that we are taking a sample of some liquid for analyzing. Then what kind of samples are used in this testing? The most common sample is blood. Sometimes other fluids that are released by the body such as urine, sweat or saliva can also be used. In rare cases, scientists have also tested fluids related to the affacted organ. For example, in a brain cancer called as glioma, scientists have measured DNA levels in cerebrospinal fluid. Now you must be wondering, "DNA in cerebrospinal fluid? How does DNA come into cerebrospinal fluid?" Well, that is one of the topics we will discuss in future posts. 

Liquid biopsy is gaining momentum as a simple and easy way of monitoring disease, and maybe even for detecting disease at its early stages. Now, the question that arises here is "what is liquid biopsy exactly?" "What are the techniques used in testing?" I will try to answer some of these questions through  future posts. I will explain about the different aspects of liquid biopsy and the approaches used for analyzes. I will also summarize some research currently happening in this field, especially in cancer. 

Now, we talked about "measuring" and "analyzing" samples. What does that mean? What are we measuring exactly? How does it help diagnose disease? Earlier, we talked about taking sample of a tissue... So how is that different from analyzing body fluids? You will find answers to all these questions in the page “What is Liquid biopsy?”.   Keep visiting this blog to know more about different markers measured for diagnosis of disease. 

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