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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer J. 2018 Mar-Apr;24(2):93–103. doi: 10.1097/PPO.0000000000000311

Table 1.

Summary of PCR based methods used for liquid biopsies. Adapted from Ref.9,67

Method Type of alteration Analytical merits*
PCR Nested real-time Known point mutations Sensitivity 0.1–1%
ARMS/Scorpion Sensitivity 0.1%
Mutant-allele specific68 Sensitivity 0.01%
Bi-PAP/Bi-PAP-A Sensitivity 0.01–0.1%
PNA-LNA PCR69 Sensitivity 0.1%
Digital PCR BEAMing Known point mutations, genomic rearrangements Sensitivity 0.001%–0.01%
ddPCR
*

All techniques detect limited genomic loci and must consider ctDNA fragmentation for primer design.

Abbreviations: PCR, polymerase chain reaction; ARMS, amplification refractory mutation system; Bi-PAP, bidirectional pyrophosphorolysis-activated polymerization; Bi-PAP-A, allele-specific amplification bidirectional; PNA-LNA, peptide nucleic acid–locked nucleic acid; BEAMing, beads, emulsion, amplification, magnetics; ddPCR, droplet digital PCR.