Table 1.

Advantages and disadvantages of testing methods that can be used in liquid biopsy

Technology	Advantages	Disadvantages
rtPCR or qPCR	Quick	Low sensitivity
	Simple	Low specificity
	Economical	Detects already known mutations
ddPCR	High sensitivity	Limited to multiplexing variant detection in a single reaction
	High specificity	Detects already known mutations
	Quick
	Simple
	Relatively economical
BEAMing	Quick	Lacks validation?
	Slightly invasive
	Simple
	Relatively economical
NGS	High precision	Complicated preparation of specimens
	High reproducibility	Limited to certain DNA regions
	Detects new mutations	Requires a complex bioinformatic analysis
	Price progressively becoming lower

BEAMing beads, emulsification, amplification and magnetics, ddPCR droplet-digital polymerase chain reaction, NGS next generation sequencing, qPCR quantitative PCR, rtPCR real time PCR