Liquid biopsy for brain metastases and leptomeningeal disease in patients with breast cancer

Stefania Morganti; Heather A Parsons; Nancy U Lin; Albert Grinshpun

doi:10.1038/s41523-023-00550-1

Liquid biopsy for brain metastases and leptomeningeal disease in patients with breast cancer

NPJ Breast Cancer. 2023 May 24;9(1):43. doi: 10.1038/s41523-023-00550-1.

Authors

Stefania Morganti^{1

2

3

4}, Heather A Parsons^{1

2

3

4}, Nancy U Lin^{1

2

3}, Albert Grinshpun^{5

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
² Breast Oncology Program, Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA. albert_grinshpun@dfci.harvard.edu.
⁶ Breast Oncology Program, Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, Boston, MA, USA. albert_grinshpun@dfci.harvard.edu.
⁷ Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. albert_grinshpun@dfci.harvard.edu.

Abstract

A significant subset of patients with metastatic breast cancer develops brain metastasis. As efficacy of systemic therapies has improved and patients live longer with metastatic breast cancer, the incidence of breast cancer brain metastases has increased. Brain metastases pose a clinical challenge in diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring across all breast cancer subtypes, and better tools are needed. Liquid biopsy, which enables minimally invasive sampling of a patient's cancer, has the potential to shed light on intra-cranial tumor biology and to improve patient care by enabling therapy tailoring. Here we review current evidence for the clinical validity of liquid biopsy in patients with breast cancer brain metastases, with a focus on circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA.

Publication types

Review