VIDEO | Relevance of Liquid Biopsy for the diagnosis and monitoring of melanoma

Click above to watch. Please note: the audio quality is occasionally poor due to the internet connection of the speaker.

“high-quality, up-to-date content on cancer research, presented by leading experts” – feedback from a participant

On 24 October 2024, the EACR hosted a webinar in collaboration with Bio-Rad, one of our valued EACR Industry Partners. We were delighted to welcome Dr Joan Anton Puig from the CORE laboratory at Hospital Clinic Barcelona. He talked about the technical and clinical aspects of implementing ctDNA analysis through droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) for monitoring high-risk melanoma patients.

Thanks to Dr Puig and Bio-Rad, we are able to provide free on-demand access to the full webinar recording, which can be found above.

If you are interested in a deeper discussion with a Bio-Rad Droplet Digital PCR specialist, click here.

To learn more about Liquid Biopsy and to see more stories of Droplet Digital PCR in Minimal Residual Disease (MRD), click here.

Talk abstract

Melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer with rising incidence and high mortality. Early detection of recurrences is essential for effective intervention, yet current imaging techniques and biomarkers often lack the sensitivity required to achieve this. Liquid biopsy approaches, particularly the analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA), represent a promising method for improving diagnosis, treatment selection, and clinical follow-up in cancer management. Among these, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis has gained attention as a non-invasive, highly sensitive tool for tracking tumor dynamics in real time.

Speaker

Dr. Joan Anton Puig, Head of Molecular Biology CORE laboratory, Hospital Clínic Barcelona, Spain

Dr. Joan Anton Puig holds a Degree in Biology (University of Girona, 2004) and a Doctorate in Biomedicine (University of Barcelona, 2014, Doctoral Award). He is a consultant for the Molecular Genetics Section of the Biochemistry and Genetics Service at the Clinic Hospital and Head of the Molecular Biology CORE facility of the same hospital. His healthcare work focuses on implementing and using molecular biology strategies for the management of oncological patients and for the diagnosis of hereditary diseases.

He is an associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine (University of Barcelona) and participates as a teacher in several Masters and undergraduate classes.

As a researcher, he is member of the research team “Melanoma: Imaging, genetics and immunology” at the IDIBAPS (Barcelona, Spain), and member of the International Consortium Genomel, the International Consortium Biogenomel, and Melanostrum Consortium.

He is involved in translational molecular studies focused on melanoma genetics, skin cancer susceptibility and the development of benign melanocytic lesions.

More recently, the research has focused on applying liquid biopsy in cancer patients (melanoma or lung cancer patients) or patients with other melanocytic lesions.

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