Giuseppe Toffoli, Matteo Castronovo and Flavio Rizzolio
Nanotechnology for Circulating Tumor Biomarker Analysis
Circulating biomarkers are essential for cancer diagnosis and progression monitoring. Nowadays, it is commonly accepted and widely highlighted the need to discover tumour markers to enable early diagnosis, prognosis as well as giving insight into pathogenesis and identifying potentially new treatments. In early stage disease, the application of adjuvant chemo- or radio- therapy after surgery depends on the risk of early tumor recurrence and in advanced stage diseases, the choice between aggressive and mild therapies depends on the stratification of patient risk. Once again, prognostic information relative to cancer patients is expected to allow the definition of effective and personalized treatment strategies.