Page 78 - Read Online

Moia et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2019;5:67 Journal of Cancer
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2019.020 Metastasis and Treatment

Review Open Access

Liquid biopsy in lymphomas: a potential tool for
refining diagnosis and disease monitoring

Riccardo Moia, Chiara Favini, Silvia Rasi, Clara Deambrogi, Valentina Ferri, Mattia Schipani, Sruthi
Sagiraju, Abdurraouf Mokhtar Mahmoud, Ahad Ahmed Kodipad, Ramesh Adhinaveni, Andrea Patriarca,
Luca Nassi, Gianluca Gaidano

Division of Hematology, Department of Translational Medicine, University of Eastern Piedmont and Ospedale Maggiore della
Carità, Novara 28100, Italy.

Correspondence to: Prof. Gianluca Gaidano, Division of Hematology, Department of Translational Medicine, University of
Eastern Piedmont and Ospedale Maggiore della Carità, Novara 28100, Italy. E-mail: gianluca.gaidano@uniupo.it

How to cite this article: Moia R, Favini C, Rasi S, Deambrogi C, Ferri V, Schipani M, Sagiraju S, Mokhtar Mahmoud A, Kodipad AA,
Adhinaveni R, Patriarca A, Nassi L, Gaidano G. Liquid biopsy in lymphomas: a potential tool for refining diagnosis and disease
monitoring. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2019;5:67. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2019.020

Received: 23 Jul 2019 First Decision: 21 Aug 2019 Revised: 28 Aug 2019 Accepted: 2 Sep 2019 Published: 4 Sep 2019

Science Editor: Ciro Isidoro Copy Editor: Cai-Hong Wang Production Editor: Jing Yu

Abstract

Liquid biopsy consists in a simple blood sampling that allows to analyze cell free DNA (cfDNA), containing specific
genomic clues released by the tumor into the bloodstream. In this review, we shall focus on the analysis of cfDNA
in lymphoma and, in particular, on its application in the genotyping and monitoring of two common types of B-cell
lymphoma, i.e., diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). From a diagnostic
standpoint and based upon the current international guidelines, lymphoma diagnosis has so far relied on the
analysis of the tissue biopsy. From a molecular viewpoint, though, the tissue biopsy does not reflect the entire
molecular heterogeneity of lymphomas. In fact, in an individual patient, lymph nodes at different anatomical sites,
as well as different areas of the same lymph node, may show different genetic profiles. Consequently, molecular
analysis of genomic DNA extracted from a single lymph node biopsy may not recapitulate the whole mutational
landscape of the disease. Liquid biopsy may overcome this hurdle, since cfDNA is released by all tumoral cells and
can reveal the entire molecular complexity of lymphomas. From a translational perspective, liquid biopsy may also
be used to evaluate clonal evolution, response to therapy and minimal residual disease. Consistently, in DLBCL as
well in cHL, the drop of the mutational burden during the treatment course provides complementary information to
conventional imaging techniques. The integration of liquid biopsy with imaging techniques may prove useful for a
better prediction of patients’ outcome and for a better treatment tailoring.

Keywords: Liquid biopsy, lymphoma, precision medicine

© The Author(s) 2019. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

www.jcmtjournal.com