Liquid Biopsy in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Esophagus and of the Head and Neck

Razvan Iacob; Matei Mandea; Speranta Iacob; Catalina Pietrosanu; Doru Paul; Razvan Hainarosie; Cristian Gheorghe

doi:10.3389/fmed.2022.827297

Liquid Biopsy in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Esophagus and of the Head and Neck

Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Apr 29:9:827297. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.827297. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Razvan Iacob^{1

2

3}, Matei Mandea¹, Speranta Iacob^{1

2

3}, Catalina Pietrosanu^{1

4}, Doru Paul⁵, Razvan Hainarosie^{1

4}, Cristian Gheorghe^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila", Bucharest, Romania.
² Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation Center, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania.
³ Center of Excellence in Translational Medicine, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania.
⁴ Professor Doctor Dorin Hociota Institute of Phonoaudiology and Functional ENT Surgery, Bucharest, Romania.
⁵ Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, NY, United States.

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinomas of the esophagus (ESCC) and of the head and neck (HNSCC) are two neoplasms that share common risk factors and have the same embryological origin, but a very different prognosis, the 5-year survival of HNSCC being almost double (40-50%) compared to the 5-year survival of ESCC (20%). Current guidelines emphasize the importance of screening for ESCC in patients diagnosed with head and neck cancers. A liquid biopsy is a novel tool for diagnosis, prognostic stratification, and personalized therapy. Liquid biopsy biomarkers for these two malignancies could help both their early detection, facilitate residual disease identification, and provide prognosis information. The present systematic review of the literature was aimed at describing the liquid biopsy biomarkers present in these two malignancies, with an emphasis on potential clinical applications.

Keywords: cell free DNA; circulating tumor cells; esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; exosomes; head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; liquid biopsy.

Publication types

Review