Liquid Biopsies in Colorectal Liver Metastases: Towards the Era of Precision Oncologic Surgery

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Liquid biopsies are increasingly gaining attention in the field of cancer therapeutics and, in particular, in the field of oncologic surgery. Liquid biopsy testing could help improve prognostication, detect recurrences early and monitor tumor evolution in the context of cancer therapies. This review aimed to provide an overview of liquid biopsies and focused on their utility among patients with CRLM. ABSTRACT: Tumor mutational analysis has been incorporated into the management of patients with CRLM since it can provide valuable prognostic information as well as guide peri-operative systemic treatment. Unlike tumor biopsy, liquid biopsy has emerged as a promising, non-invasive alternative that can detect cell-derived markers from a variety of body fluids and might better characterize all subclones present at a specific time point and allow sequential monitoring of disease evolution. Although not currently considered standard of care, an increasing number of cancer centers are nowadays routinely using liquid biopsies in the treatment of CRLM patients with promising results. The current review provides an overview of liquid biopsies in cancer therapeutics and focuses on the application of this relatively new approach on patients with CRLM.