Table 1 Advantages of liquid biopsy over standard tissue biopsy
From: Liquid biopsy - emergence of a new era in personalized cancer care
| Liquid biopsy | Tissue biopsy | |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical sample | Blood | Effected tissue |
| Risk | Minimal risk/pain | Risk depends on location of tumor |
| Ease of collecting sample | Quick | Depends on location of tumor. Some tumors are hard to reach |
| Ease of monitoring patients | Simple blood test | Difficult to do repeat surgeries; also surgeons may not know where to look for metastatic tumor |
| Invasive | Minimally invasive | Invasive |
| Time for patient recovery | Quick; does not require hospitalization | Time Intensive; requires hospitalization of patients |