Advancements in Focal Amplification Detection in Tumor/Liquid Biopsies and Emerging Clinical Applications.
Genes (Basel)
; 14(6)2023 06 20.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37372484
ABSTRACT
Focal amplifications (FAs) are crucial in cancer research due to their significant diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic implications. FAs manifest in various forms, such as episomes, double minute chromosomes, and homogeneously staining regions, arising through different mechanisms and mainly contributing to cancer cell heterogeneity, the leading cause of drug resistance in therapy. Numerous wet-lab, mainly FISH, PCR-based assays, next-generation sequencing, and bioinformatics approaches have been set up to detect FAs, unravel the internal structure of amplicons, assess their chromatin compaction status, and investigate the transcriptional landscape associated with their occurrence in cancer cells. Most of them are tailored for tumor samples, even at the single-cell level. Conversely, very limited approaches have been set up to detect FAs in liquid biopsies. This evidence suggests the need to improve these non-invasive investigations for early tumor detection, monitoring disease progression, and evaluating treatment response. Despite the potential therapeutic implications of FAs, such as, for example, the use of HER2-specific compounds for patients with ERBB2 amplification, challenges remain, including developing selective and effective FA-targeting agents and understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying FA maintenance and replication. This review details a state-of-the-art of FA investigation, with a particular focus on liquid biopsies and single-cell approaches in tumor samples, emphasizing their potential to revolutionize the future diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancer patients.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Neoplasias
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Genes (Basel)
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Italia