Liquid biopsy in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

ctDNA provides an important new strategy that will aid in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Immunoglobulin sequencing provides a tumor specific marker for disease activity with a sensitivity equivalent to one tumor cell per 10-6. Furthermore, it can provide an estimate of tumor bulk and tumor response dynamics during treatment. Interim monitoring can identify patients at high risk of treatment failure and surveillance monitoring can identify patients months before radiographic disease progression. Tumor specific mutations can also be detected in ctDNA and may reflect an averaging of mutations present within multiple tumor masses. Such analysis may aid in the molecular characterization of tumors and selection of targeted treatments for precision medicine.