Clonal Hematopoiesis and Liquid Biopsy in Gastrointestinal Cancers

Vlad M Croitoru; Irina M Cazacu; Ionut Popescu; Doru Paul; Simona Olimpia Dima; Adina Emilia Croitoru; Alina Daniela Tanase

doi:10.3389/fmed.2021.772166

Clonal Hematopoiesis and Liquid Biopsy in Gastrointestinal Cancers

Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Jan 21:8:772166. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.772166. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Vlad M Croitoru^{1

2}, Irina M Cazacu^{1

2}, Ionut Popescu¹, Doru Paul³, Simona Olimpia Dima^{1

4}, Adina Emilia Croitoru^{1

2}, Alina Daniela Tanase^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, Titu Maiorescu University, Bucharest, Romania.
² Department of Medical Oncology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania.
³ Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian, New York, NY, United States.
⁴ Center of Excellence in Translational Medicine, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania.
⁵ Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania.

Abstract

The use of blood liquid biopsy is increasingly being incorporated into the clinical setting of gastrointestinal cancers care. Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) occurs naturally as a result of the accumulation of somatic mutations and the clonal proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells with normal aging. The identification of CH-mutations has been described as a source of biological noise in blood liquid biopsy. Incorrect interpretation of CH events as cancer related can have a direct impact on cancer diagnosis and treatment. This review summarizes the current understanding of CH as a form of biological noise in blood liquid biopsy and the reported clinical significance of CH in patients with GI cancers.

Keywords: cancer; cfDNA; clonal hematopoiesis; gastrointestinal tumor; liquid biopsy.

Publication types

Review