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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

A Standardized Liquid Biopsy Preanalytical Protocol for Downstream Circulating-Free DNA Applications
Published on: September 16, 2022
Liquid Biopsy-Analysis of Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA) in Bladder Cancer
Tilman Todenhöfer1, Werner J Struss2, Roland Seiler3
1Department of Urology, University Hospital, Tübingen, Germany.
Abstract:
Recent advances in DNA profiling techniques have enabled sensitive detection of tumor-associated genomic aberrations in peripheral blood. This type of minimally-invasive molecular interrogation has the potential to guide subsequent treatment selection. The potential utility of ctDNA in bladder cancer (BC) is bolstered by the high somatic mutation rate, meaning that very small numbers of genes or target regions can be informative. First reports indicate that analysis of ctDNA may represent a sensitive method for disease surveillance in patients with different stages of BC. Moreover, recent evidence suggests that ctDNA analysis reveals previously unknown genomic alterations in metastatic patients. Since some of these gene alterations represent therapeutic targets, ctDNA analysis provides an attractive tool to guide individualized therapy in BC.
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