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Finzel et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2018;4:21 Journal of Cancer
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2018.10 Metastasis and Treatment

Original Article Open Access

The combined analysis of solid and liquid biopsies
provides additional clinical information to improve

patient care

Ana Finzel, Helen Sadik, Gregori Ghitti, Jean-François Laes

OncoDNA SA, Office 1, Gosselies 6041, Belgium.
Correspondence to: Dr. Ana Finzel, OncoDNA SA, Rue Louis Bréguet 1, Gosselies 6041, Belgium.
E-mail: a.finzel-perez@oncodna.com
How to cite this article: Finzel A, Sadik H, Ghitti G, Laes JF. The combined analysis of solid and liquid biopsies provides additional
clinical information to improve patient care. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2018;4:21.
http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2018.10
Received: 19 Feb 2018 First Decision: 29 Mar 2018 Revised: 4 Apr 2018 Accepted: 23 Apr 2018 Published: 8 May 2018

Science Editor: Lucio Miele Copy Editor: Jun-Yao Li Production Editor: Cai-Hong Wang

Abstract
Aim: To investigate if the genetic information provided by sequencing of both solid and liquid biopsies can shed light on
tumor heterogeneity, and to understand the clinical usefulness of adding blood profiling to standard tissue analysis in
cancer care.

Methods: Data from 351 patients with stage IV solid tumors for whom molecular profiling of their solid and liquid biopsies
was available were studied, with a focus on the discrepant molecular information found between tissue and blood samples.

Results: In 86% of patients, solid and liquid biopsies provided different molecular information. Discrepant gene mutations
with a functional impact on the corresponding protein were studied in detail. In 97% of cases, these additional mutations
provided clinical value, mainly predicting sensitivity or resistance to targeted therapies. Specifically, 42% of the mutations
found only in the liquid biopsy were directly predictive of approved therapies (80% targeted therapies), while 54% were
inclusion criteria for molecularly-matched trials.

Conclusion: This study suggests that the addition of blood profiling should be considered in routine clinical oncology,
especially for patients with metastatic disease where integrated analysis of solid and liquid biopsies provides a more
complete characterization of tumor heterogeneity and provides valuable clinical information for patient treatment.

Keywords: Molecular profiling, solid tumor, liquid biopsy, solid biopsy, tumor heterogeneity, next-generation sequencing,
precision medicine, targeted therapies
© The Author(s) 2018. 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.

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