Table 3.

Potential liquid biopsy applications in MRD setting

Prognostic value	Basal and after-surgery liquid biopsy assessment could be used as a marker of higher risk disease and increased events of disease recurrence or death, to guide the choice of (neo)adjuvant treatment administration or omission
Recurrence monitoring	Liquid biopsy has proven to be more sensitive in detecting early disease recurrence compared to standard methods during follow-up. Its use could be implemented in everyday clinical practice to treat relapses as soon as they present, even in absence of overt metastases
Liquid biopsy as a measure of early liquid recurrence	During adjuvant treatments, monitoring liquid biopsy elements levels could help determine early recurrence and consequently influence the choice of new therapeutic strategies
Patients’ treatment selection based on molecular alterations: the predictive value of liquid biopsy	Liquid biopsy could be used to select a population harboring genetic or epigenetic alterations that could be targetable by a biological therapy