Cancer Biomarkers in Liquid Biopsy for Early Detection of Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common neoplasm in women worldwide. Liquid biopsy (LB) is a non-invasive diagnostic technique that allows the analysis of biomarkers in different body fluids, particularly in peripheral blood and also in urine, saliva, nipple discharge, volatile respiratory fluids, nasal secretions, breast milk, and tears. The objective was to analyze the available evidence related to the use of biomarkers obtained by LB for the early diagnosis of BC.

Articles related to the use of biomarkers for the early diagnosis of BC due to LB, published between 2010 and 2022, from the databases (WoS, EMBASE, PubMed, and SCOPUS) were included. The MInCir diagnostic scale was applied in the articles to determine their methodological quality (MQ). Descriptive statistics were used, as well as determination of weighted averages of each variable, to analyze the extracted data. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve values for specific biomarkers (individual or in panels) are described.

In this systematic review (SR), 136 articles met the selection criteria, representing 17 709 patients with BC. However, 95.6% were case-control studies. In 96.3% of cases, LB was performed in peripheral blood samples. Most of the articles were based on microRNA (miRNA) analysis. The mean MQ score was 25/45 points. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve values for specific biomarkers (individual or in panels) have been found.

The determination of biomarkers through LB is a useful mechanism for the diagnosis of BC. The analysis of miRNA in peripheral blood is the most studied methodology. Our results indicate that LB has a high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of BC, especially in early stages.