Updated
Updated · pharmaphorum · Jul 8
Liquid Biopsies Advance Cancer Monitoring as Oncology Shifts Beyond 5-Year Survival
Updated
Updated · pharmaphorum · Jul 8

Liquid Biopsies Advance Cancer Monitoring as Oncology Shifts Beyond 5-Year Survival

3 articles · Updated · pharmaphorum · Jul 8

Summary

  • A new generation of liquid biopsies is gaining ground in cancer monitoring, giving clinicians blood-test tools to track how disease changes over time.
  • That progress reflects a broader oncology shift highlighted in Deep Dive: Oncology 2026—moving beyond survival alone toward how patients live during extra months and years after diagnosis.
  • Five-year survival, overall survival, and progression-free survival have long defined treatment success, but rising numbers of people living with and beyond cancer are pushing quality-of-life measures higher on the agenda.
  • ASCO 2026 underscored that wider transition, with liquid biopsies joining antibody-drug conjugates and research into younger-adult cancers as part of a push to improve life beyond treatment.

Insights

As new tests allow for less cancer treatment, are we trading survival for a better quality of life?
With new tech tracking patient symptoms, is the balance of power in cancer care finally shifting to the patient?
While overall cancer care improves, why is colorectal cancer now a leading killer for adults under 50?