Exosome-driven liquid biopsy for breast cancer

Liquid biopsy with minimally invasive emerges as a powerful tool for early screening of breast cancer (BrCa). BrCa derived exosomes which enrich with biological information from their parent cells play essential roles in the evolution and metastasis of BrCa, providing a real-time snapshot of the tumor. Researchers from King’s College London discuss the recent advances of exosomes studies in liquid biopsy, particularly for BrCa. A number of isolation methods for exosomes are compared in detail. Different exosome biomarkers for detection of BrCa are discussed. Novel approaches for the detection of exosomes towards clinical diagnosis of BrCa are highlighted at the end. The authors believe the innovations in exosome research will lead to new breakthroughs in the early screening and diagnosis of BrCa.

Schematic illustration of exosome for lipid biopsy

(A) The clinical application of exosome-based liquid biopsy in breast cancer, various body fluids were applicable as testing samples; (B) The biogenesis and secretion pathways of exosomes; (C) The structure and content of exosomes.