Figure 1.

Liquid biopsy components in CRC and their clinical utility. CTCs are shedded from the tumor into the blood vessels where they can release their components: nucleic acids and exosomes with tumor-specific cargo material. For the analysis of these molecules, blood can be taken out, and plasma or serum further processed for the extraction of the desired constituents. From the blood circulation, these molecules can be filtered into saliva and urine which can also be collected and further analyzed. Each of these constituents delivers one or more levels of tumor information. The quantity of the concentration of single proteins or panels including numerous tumor proteins is the present gold standard in cancer management.