Guests/Speakers
Dr. Sydney Barned, Dr. Jacob Kaufman
In this liquid biopsy in lung cancer video you will learn the answers to these questions:
1. What is the difference between a liquid biopsy and a tissue biopsy?
2. When is a tissue biopsy used rather than a liquid biopsy?
Liquid vs Tissue – What’s the Difference?
A Tissue Biopsy involves a needle to pull cells out of a tumor and look at them under a microscope to help determine what the best type of treatment would be for a given Lung Cancer patient. A Liquid Biopsy is a blood-based test that looks for the DNA in a patient’s bloodstream and can identify biomarkers within the circulating DNA.
What Determines Which Type of Biopsy to Use?
The use of liquid biopsies is becoming more common in the field of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as the utility of liquid biopsies in the detection of key biomarkers continues to be confirmed through clinical trials. The popularity of blood-based assays is also growing as comparisons between liquid and tissue biopsies continue to demonstrate the non-inferiority of liquid biopsies with quicker testing turnaround times.
But, an initial lung cancer diagnosis is done using a tissue biopsy. In some cases where there isn’t enough tissue available to be able to sequence the DNA to determine biomarkers, then a liquid biopsy would be used.
