Liquid Biopsy for Prostate and Bladder Cancer: Progress and Pitfalls

Urinary liquid biopsy (LB) tests have contributed to reducing overtreatment and improving the detection of bladder and prostate cancer. Circulating tumor cells, DNA, and RNA are the focus of next-generation blood-based LB tests. These tests aim to stratify risk according to the detection of resistance and recurrence markers in patients with metastatic disease. The costs, lack of standardization, reimbursement challenges, and specialized workflows associated with characterization of blood-derived biomarkers are the primary barriers to their clinical implementation. This review provides an overview of the successes and pitfalls of LB-based tests for bladder and prostate cancer. PATIENT SUMMARY: Urinary and blood-based liquid biopsy tests are minimally invasive and highly efficacious in detecting clinically significant cancer.