Liquid Biopsies: Paving the Way for More Personalized and Responsive Cancer Care

Discover how liquid biopsies are transforming cancer care by enabling faster, less invasive detection and real-time treatment monitoring.

Article

Published: May 15, 2025

Monica Hoyos Flight, PhD

speaking with

Klaus Pantel, MD

& Vivek Subbiah, MD

Gloved hands handling blood sample tubes in a lab, illustrating the process of liquid biopsy testing.

Credit: iStock

Liquid biopsies are transforming cancer diagnostics by providing a minimally invasive, real-time window into tumor biology. By analyzing cancer-derived materials such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cell-free DNA (ctDNA), and extracellular vesicles in the blood, researchers can track tumor evolution, treatment response, and disease recurrence—often before traditional imaging detects changes.Despite its promise, challenges remain—particularly around standardization, regulation, and reimbursement.

Download this article to learn about the role of liquid biopsies in:

Revolutioning cancer care
Understanding cancer progression in real time
Enabling precision medicine approaches

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Meet the Author

Monica Hoyos Flight, PhD

Freelance Science Writer

Monica is a freelance science communications consultant providing writing and editing services for researchers, research organizations and companies. She has a PhD in neuroscience from Imperial College London and extensive experience as an editor for Springer Nature journals and research communications manager at the University of Edinburgh. She is particularly interested in writing about the translation of research and emerging technologies into societally useful products and services.

Interviewing

White letters "KP" on a navy background.

Klaus Pantel, MD

Chairman of the Institute of Tumour Biology

Prof. Klaus Pantel is chairman of the Institute of Tumour Biology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. He is an expert in the field of cancer micrometastasis, circulating tumor cells and circulating nucleic acids. Between 2015 and 2019, he led the international Cancer-ID consortium to advance the use of liquid biopsy in clinical trials of cancer drugs and in the clinical treatment of patients with cancer. He is the founder and chairman of the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS).

White letters "VS" on a navy background.

Vivek Subbiah, MD

Chief of Early-Phase Drug Development

Vivek Subbiah joined the Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) in Nashville in 2023 as chief of early-phase drug development, where he leads the Institute’s early-phase drug development capabilities and programs. Previously, Dr. Subbiah held several leadership roles at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, including executive director of medical oncology research in the MD Anderson Cancer Network and clinical medical director of the Division of Cancer Medicine. He is a major advocate for precision oncology and has designed and led several first-in-human trials that have resulted in FDA approval.

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