It is most important to note that "liquid biopsy" technologies, including Guardant 360 blood based assays, are not a replacement for tumor testing, when available. In cases with inaccessible tissue due to specimen inadequacy and/or lack of re-biopsy feasibility, liquid biopsy testing can be pursued,...

I send ctDNA on essentially every new diagnosis of metastatic lung cancer in my clinic. This is for a few reasons. The major reason is that I find these tests come back in about 7-10d on average, and while we have relatively rapid tissue-based NGS-based testing for actionable biomarkers with our pat...

Liquid biopsy is playing an increasingly important role for patients with non-small cell lung cancer. I send ctDNA for the majority of my metastatic patients at diagnosis. One advantage of liquid biopsy is the rapid turnaround time, as quick as 5-7 days. The turnaround for tissue can be as long as 3...

I use blood/liquid testing when there is not enough tumor tissue available or rebiopsy is not feasible.

I send both concurrently always and as soon as I can. Reasons why: If I find a target, I can start treatment sooner. Turnaround time is faster than tissue. If tissue turns out not quantity enough, you may be lucky and get your answer from cfDNA, instead of waiting to re-biopsy and re-sending N...