Dr. McKenzie on the Rationale for Concurrent Tissue and Liquid Biopsies in Lung Cancer

Andrew McKenzie, PhD, director, Personalized Medicine, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses the rationale to utilize concurrent tissue- and liquid-based biopsies in lung cancer.

Tissue- and plasma-based biopsies are different assays that can often yield different molecular results, says McKenzie. Typically, liquid biopsy is utilized in patients with difficult-to-biopsy or bone-only disease. Additionally, plasma-based testing may be a useful longitudinal tool for monitoring molecular markers, McKenzie explains.

Currently, tissue-based testing remains the gold standard with regard to next-generation sequencing, McKenzie says. Moreover, tissue biopsies that can detect RNA fusions and other markers that are difficult to identify by plasma-based testing are useful tools.

Ultimately, tissue and liquid biopsies are not interchangeable and concurrent use of these molecular tests could be helpful in identifying clinically relevant markers, concludes McKenzie.