Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 4 complete abstracts (705 words), 10 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
Obtaining material for pathological examination and analysis, from bodily fluids. Material retrieved includes cell-free nucleic acids; cell-derived microparticles; exosomes; circulating neoplasm cells; and other circulating cells and cellular structures.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Biopsies, Liquid; Biopsy, Liquid; Liquid Biopsies.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Biopsy
- Narrower topics
- Noninvasive Prenatal Testing
- See also
- Blood Specimen Collection
Related concepts
- Cell-Free Nucleic Acids
- Cell-Derived Microparticles
- Exosomes
- Circulating Neoplasm Cells
- Cellular Structures
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 5,326 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Liquid Biopsy” (counts retrieved 2026-11-04). 4,268 of them (80.1%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is 2020 onward with 4,268 records.
Reviews account for 1,950 records (36.6%) and meta-analyses for 68. Randomized controlled trials number 17 (0.3%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 0 |
| 2000-2009 | 0 |
| 2010-2019 | 1,169 |
| 2020 onward | 4,268 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 1,950 | 36.6% |
| Meta-analyses | 68 | 1.3% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 17 | 0.3% |
Method: PubMed query "Liquid Biopsy"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-11-04.
Reading the evidence in diagnostics and medical technology
A test or device is judged by how well it detects a condition, how often it gives false alarms or misses cases, and whether using it improves outcomes for people. Accuracy depends on who is tested and how common the condition is, so a test that performs well in a specialist hospital can perform differently in the community. Check the reference standard, the population studied, the sensitivity and specificity and whether results were confirmed in a separate group.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid biopsy in cancer current: status, challenges and future prospects | 2024 | Review article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 447 | cc by PMID 39617822 · DOI · PMC11609310 |
| Liquid biopsy in lung cancer: significance in diagnostics, prediction, and treatment monitoring | 2022 | Review article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 353 | cc by PMID 35057806 · DOI · PMC8772097 |
| Circulating Cell-Free Nucleic Acids: Main Characteristics and Clinical Application | 2020 | Review article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 153 | cc by PMID 32957662 · DOI · PMC7555669 |
| Application of Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (dPCR) in Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) | 2025 | Review article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 7 | cc by PMID 40149896 · DOI · PMC11940399 |
Liquid biopsy in cancer current: status, challenges and future prospects [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Cancer has a high mortality rate across the globe, and tissue biopsy remains the gold standard for tumor diagnosis due to its high level of laboratory standardization, good consistency of results, relatively stable samples, and high accuracy of results.
- Closing excerpt
- In this review, we will discuss the application, advantages and challenges of liquid biopsy in some common tumors from the perspective of diverse systems of tumors, and look forward to its future development prospects in the field of cancer diagnosis and treatment.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (211 words)
Cancer has a high mortality rate across the globe, and tissue biopsy remains the gold standard for tumor diagnosis due to its high level of laboratory standardization, good consistency of results, relatively stable samples, and high accuracy of results. However, there are still many limitations and drawbacks in the application of tissue biopsy in tumor. The emergence of liquid biopsy provides new ideas for early diagnosis and prognosis of tumor. Compared with tissue biopsy, liquid biopsy has many advantages in the diagnosis and treatment of various types of cancer, including non-invasive, quickly and so on. Currently, the application of liquid biopsy in tumor detection has received widely attention. It is now undergoing rapid progress, and it holds significant potential for future applications. Around now, liquid biopsies encompass several components such as circulating tumor cells, circulating tumor DNA, exosomes, microRNA, circulating RNA, tumor platelets, and tumor endothelial cells. In addition, advances in the identification of liquid biopsy indicators have significantly enhanced the possibility of utilizing liquid biopsies in clinical settings. In this review, we will discuss the application, advantages and challenges of liquid biopsy in some common tumors from the perspective of diverse systems of tumors, and look forward to its future development prospects in the field of cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 39617822 · DOI · PMC11609310
Liquid biopsy in lung cancer: significance in diagnostics, prediction, and treatment monitoring [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Primary lung cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in China.
- Closing excerpt
- This review introduces the research progress and clinical application prospect of liquid biopsy technology for lung cancer.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (177 words)
Primary lung cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in China. Approximately 60% of lung cancer patients have distant metastasis at the initial diagnosis, so it is necessary to find new tumor markers for early diagnosis and individualized treatment. Tumor markers contribute to the early diagnosis of lung cancer and play important roles in early detection and treatment, as well as in precision medicine, efficacy monitoring, and prognosis prediction. The pathological diagnosis of lung cancer in small biopsy specimens determines whether there are tumor cells in the biopsy and tumor type. Because biopsy is traumatic and the compliance of patients with multiple biopsies is poor, liquid biopsy has become a hot research direction. Liquid biopsies are advantageous because they are nontraumatic, easy to obtain, reflect the overall state of the tumor, and allow for real-time monitoring. At present, liquid biopsies mainly include circulating tumor cells, circulating tumor DNA, exosomes, microRNA, circulating RNA, tumor platelets, and tumor endothelial cells. This review introduces the research progress and clinical application prospect of liquid biopsy technology for lung cancer.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 35057806 · DOI · PMC8772097
Circulating Cell-Free Nucleic Acids: Main Characteristics and Clinical Application [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Liquid biopsy recently became a very promising diagnostic method that has several advantages over conventional invasive methods.
- Closing excerpt
- We also outline possible future directions in the field.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (171 words)
Liquid biopsy recently became a very promising diagnostic method that has several advantages over conventional invasive methods. Liquid biopsy may serve as a source of several important biomarkers including cell-free nucleic acids (cf-NAs). Cf-DNA is widely used in prenatal testing in order to characterize fetal genetic disorders. Analysis of cf-DNA may provide information about the mutation profile of tumor cells, while cell-free non-coding RNAs are promising biomarker candidates in the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer. Many of these markers have the potential to help clinicians in therapy selection and in the follow-up of patients. Thus, cf-NA-based diagnostics represent a new path in personalized medicine. Although several reviews are available in the field, most of them focus on a limited number of cf-NA types. In this review, we give an overview about all known cf-NAs including cf-DNA, cf-mtDNA and cell-free non-coding RNA (miRNA, lncRNA, circRNA, piRNA, YRNA, and vtRNA) by discussing their biogenesis, biological function and potential as biomarker candidates in liquid biopsy. We also outline possible future directions in the field.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 32957662 · DOI · PMC7555669
Application of Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (dPCR) in Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) [4]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- This article reviews the current applications of the digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) in non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and explores its potential to complement or surpass the capabilities of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) in prenatal testing.
- Closing excerpt
- In contrast, dPCR provides comparable accuracy with lower complexity and expense, making it a promising alternative for prenatal testing.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (146 words)
This article reviews the current applications of the digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) in non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and explores its potential to complement or surpass the capabilities of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) in prenatal testing. The growing incidence of genetic disorders in maternal-fetal medicine has intensified the demand for precise and accessible NIPT options, which aim to minimize the need for invasive prenatal diagnostic procedures. Cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA), the core analyte in NIPT, is influenced by numerous factors such as maternal DNA contamination, placental health, and fragment degradation. dPCR, with its inherent precision and ability to detect low-abundance targets, demonstrates robustness against these interferences. Although NGS remains the gold standard due to its comprehensive diagnostic capabilities, its high costs limit widespread use, particularly in resource-limited settings. In contrast, dPCR provides comparable accuracy with lower complexity and expense, making it a promising alternative for prenatal testing.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 40149896 · DOI · PMC11940399
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Liquid biopsy enters the clinic - implementation issues and future challenges [5]
- Research article Application of Cell-free DNA Analysis to Cancer Treatment [6]
- Research article Liquid Biopsy: From Discovery to Clinical Application [7]
- Research article Epigenetics, fragmentomics, and topology of cell-free DNA in liquid biopsies [8]
- Research article Microfluidics for exosome isolation and analysis: enabling liquid biopsy for personalized medicine [9]
- Research article Liquid Biopsies in Cancer Diagnosis, Monitoring, and Prognosis [10]
Full-text reviews on EvidenceLib
Open-access review articles about this topic, reproduced in full with authors, licence and references.
Application of exosomes as liquid biopsy in clinical diagnosis
Biting Zhou, Kailun Xu, Xi Zheng et al. · Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 2020 · CC BY 4.0
References
- Ma L, Guo H, Zhao Y, Liu Z, Wang C, Bu J, et al.. Liquid biopsy in cancer current: status, challenges and future prospects. . 2024. PMID 39617822 · DOI · PMC11609310
- Li W, Liu JB, Hou LK, Yu F, Zhang J, Wu W, et al.. Liquid biopsy in lung cancer: significance in diagnostics, prediction, and treatment monitoring. . 2022. PMID 35057806 · DOI · PMC8772097
- Szilágyi M, Pös O, Márton É, Buglyó G, Soltész B, Keserű J, et al.. Circulating Cell-Free Nucleic Acids: Main Characteristics and Clinical Application. . 2020. PMID 32957662 · DOI · PMC7555669
- Guo Y, Charoenkwan P, Traisrisilp K, Piyamongkol W, Tongprasert F. Application of Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (dPCR) in Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT). . 2025. PMID 40149896 · DOI · PMC11940399
- Ignatiadis M, Sledge GW, Jeffrey SS. Liquid biopsy enters the clinic - implementation issues and future challenges. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2021. PMID 33473219 · DOI
- Corcoran RB, Chabner BA. Application of Cell-free DNA Analysis to Cancer Treatment. N Engl J Med. 2018. PMID 30380390 · DOI
- Alix-Panabières C, Pantel K. Liquid Biopsy: From Discovery to Clinical Application. Cancer Discov. 2021. PMID 33811121 · DOI
- Lo YMD, Han DSC, Jiang P, Chiu RWK. Epigenetics, fragmentomics, and topology of cell-free DNA in liquid biopsies. Science. 2021. PMID 33833097 · DOI
- Contreras-Naranjo JC, Wu HJ, Ugaz VM. Microfluidics for exosome isolation and analysis: enabling liquid biopsy for personalized medicine. Lab Chip. 2017. PMID 28832692 · DOI · PMC5656537
- De Rubis G, Rajeev Krishnan S, Bebawy M. Liquid Biopsies in Cancer Diagnosis, Monitoring, and Prognosis. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2019. PMID 30736982 · DOI
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-11-04; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-11-04.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.