Molecular diagnostics in oncology: new trends
Molecular diagnostics is a mandatory component of modern clinical oncology. The most known examples of molecular diagnostic procedures include the detection of hereditary cancer syndromes and the analysis of somatic drug-sensitizing mutations in protein kinases. Advances in cancer research as well as the development of new technologies led to emergence of new trends in this area of medicine. The invention of next generation sequencing (NGS) has a potential to dramatically change the landscape of molecular diagnostics. NGS allows to significantly improve the efficiency and availability of genetic testing for hereditary cancers as well as to undertake comprehensive tumor mutation profiling to guide the therapy choice. Tumors usually change their properties during therapeutic intervention. Monitoring of these properties is important for proper selection of further treatment options. So-called liquid biopsy is essential for this purpose, as it allows to detect key molecular features of the tumors by a non-invasive approach. There is an increasing popularity of ex vivo tumor models, which allow to cultivate tumor cells and to select the therapy based on the results of drug sensitivity tests.