The potential of circulating nucleic acids as components of companion diagnostics for predicting and monitoring chemotherapy response

An effective personalized medicine is associated with the ability of identifying cancer patients who respond to anticancer targeted therapies. Therefore, new companion biomarkers that facilitate drug development are urgently needed. Since clinically relevant genetic and epigenetic alterations can be detected in cell-free nucleic acids in the blood circulation of cancer patients, these molecules may be a new promising class of potential liquid biomarkers. They can be obtained in real-time from blood, and their analyses could, consequently, facilitate treatment decisions. Screening of these liquid biopsies may provide information on the aberrant signaling pathway that should be blocked by the chosen targeted therapy. This article will discuss the potential of circulating nucleic acids as therapeutics for overcoming chemotherapeutic resistance in anticancer strategies.