. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Aug 28.

Published in final edited form as: Adv Med Sci. 2019 Dec 13;65(1):18–29. doi: 10.1016/j.advms.2019.10.002

Table 1.

Comparative assessment of tissue and liquid biopsy.

Features	Tumor Biopsy	Liquid Biopsy

Biomaterial	Tissue	Blood
Technique	Sharp needle intra-cavity organ penetration	Finger-prick or venous blood sample
Interpretation	Standard histopathology	Molecular genomic analysis
Timing	One or limited time access	On demand real-time repetition
Invasive Level	High	Non-invasive
Material	Tissue sample (4–5 mm)	60 μl-1ml blood
Cost	High (US $5000)^a	Low-moderate^a
Data Interpretation	Subjective	Objective mathematical algorithm
Adverse Events	High	Negligible
Sampling Accuracy	Limited by tumor heterogeneity	Real-time global overview of tumor genomic activity
Disease Monitoring	One-time assessment of disease; no insight into tumor evolution	Real-time/continuous overview of tumor evolution
Tumor Status	One-time assessment; real-time infeasible; some lesions not accessible	Multiple real-time assessment of molecular biology of tumor
Assessment Surgical Resection	Histology of removed tissue; no accurate information on residual disease	Minimal residual disease detectable
Monitoring	No information without re-biopsy	Real time assessment accurate and effective
Prognostic Information	Based upon one-time subjective assessment	Continuous real time information available

Costs are defined by insurance and Medicare in the US. The cost of a tissue biopsy, especially if surgery is required is high, ∼US $5000. The costs of current liquid biopsies range in price from US $1000–3500.