Circulating Biomarkers in Sarcoma

Biomarkers to evaluate, diagnose, and monitor cancer treatment can provide critical adjunct information to standard methods of cancer detection and monitoring. With over 100 different histologic subtypes, sarcomas are a group of tumors with a critical need for easily retrievable circulating biomarkers. This review presents the current progress in the field. We describe the myriad types of biomarkers, highlight the modalities of testing, and explore the clinical utility of specific biomarkers.

Genomic circulating biomarkers include circulating tumor DNA and micro-RNA. Genomic expressions for different histologic subtypes of sarcoma are highlighted in this review. We also explore different oncogenes, their respective proteins, extracellular vesicles, and dysregulated metabolites as investigational circulating biomarkers for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.

Soft tissue sarcomas are a category of cancers that lack a clinically validated circulating biomarker, and this review presents the ongoing research efforts to establish a genomic, proteomic, or metabolic biomarker.