[Liquid biopsy proteomics in ophthalmology : A clinical and scientific perspective]

For many patients with age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other partially monogenetic retinal diseases as well as for tumors of the eye that are relatively rare but are usually associated with profound consequences for affected patients, there is still no effective treatment available. Metastatic melanoma, for example, remains poorly predictable with respect to disease progression, response to treatment and outcome. This illustrates the urgent need for a deeper molecular understanding of the disease with the goal to develop novel therapeutic strategies. Liquid biopsies of the aqueous humor represent a promising possibility for molecular analyses in the eyes of patients.

A clinical and scientific perspective with respect to potential fields of applications of liquid biopsy proteomics in ophthalmology is presented.

A systematic literature search was carried out in PubMed and the personal experiences of the authors are presented.

Aqueous humor proteomics offer a plethora of potential applications in ophthalmology and could become a key factor in personalized ophthalmology. Potential areas of application include the selection of treatment based on the activated biological signalling pathways, the selection of patients for clinical trials as well as the diagnostics, prognosis estimation and monitoring of the response to treatment. In addition, it can be a valuable component of multimodal diagnostics and enable insights into neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.