CANCER DIAGNOSTICS ONLINE – Turning Data into Decisions
Tuesday 17th and 24th November and 1st December 2026 at 3pm GMT | 4pm CET |10am EST
How do we turn liquid biopsy data into clinically useful insights? This three-part series explores the decisions behind selecting the right test, detecting scarce tumour signals and demonstrating clinical value.
Across the series, you will learn how to:
- Choose the right approach: Understand how cancer type, disease stage and patient population influence biomarker, biofluid and assay selection.
- Push the limits of detection: Explore sample processing and enrichment strategies to recover more information from limited samples.
- Assess clinical potential: Understand the validation, evidence and practical considerations needed to move liquid biopsy towards routine care.
Webinar 1: Right Test, Right Patient
Tuesday 17th November 2026 at 3pm GMT |4pm CET | 10am EST
Sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific
There is no single 'best' approach to liquid biopsy. So how do we identify the right tests and biomarkers for different patients?
From molecular characterisation of paediatric cancers to the potential of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) liquid biopsy for brain tumours where tissue sampling can be difficult or high-risk, this webinar will explore how researchers are adapting diagnostic strategies to different clinical challenges.
Discover how cancer type, disease stage and patient population influence the choice of biomarkers, biofluids and assays, and what challenges remain in translating these approaches into clinical practice.
Talk 1: The Evolving Landscape of Liquid Biopsy in Oncology
- Exploring advances in liquid biopsy and its applications in precision oncology.
- Comparing CTCs, ctDNA and other circulating biomarkers and the information they provide.
- Understanding how biomarker selection depends on cancer type, disease stage and clinical needs.
- Drawing on CTC research to explore tumour heterogeneity, disease progression and treatment response.
- Examining current clinical applications and remaining challenges for liquid biopsy.
Catherine Alix-Panabières, Professor of Oncology and Director of the Laboratory of Rare Human Circulating Cells, University of Montpellier
Talk 2: Review of the NCI/COG's Molecular Characterization Initiative for Pediatric Solid Tumours
- Stating the objectives of NCI’s Molecular Characterization Initiative (MCI)
- Summarizing the laboratory workflow and result interpretation for MCI samples
- Discussing interesting cases and lessons learned
Yassmine Akkari, Senior Director, Institute for Genomic Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital
Talk 3: The Clinical Potential of CSF Liquid Biopsy in Paediatric Brain Tumours
- Exploring the clinical applications of liquid biopsy in paediatric brain tumours, particularly where tissue biopsies are high-risk or not feasible.
- Using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to detect tumour-derived alterations, including its advantages and limitations compared with other biofluids.
- Monitoring treatment response and minimal residual disease (MRD), including detecting molecular changes before they appear on MRI.
- Identifying actionable mutations to guide treatment decisions, drawing on clinical cases in paediatric neuro-oncology.
- Developing clinically applicable assays, balancing sensitivity, sample availability and cost-effectiveness.
Liana Nobre, Assistant Professor, University of Alberta
Webinar 2: Finding the Signal: Overcoming the Limits of Liquid Biopsy Detection
Tuesday 24th November 2026 at 3pm GMT/ 4pm CET/ 10am EST
Sponsored by Twist Bioscience
What happens when the cancer signal you're looking for is barely detectable?
In applications such as minimal residual disease monitoring and early cancer detection, tumour-derived material can be extraordinarily scarce. Improving detection isn't simply a question of sequencing deeper: where circulating tumour DNA is found, how samples are processed and how signals are enriched can all influence what researchers can detect.
This webinar will explore how researchers are addressing the biological and technical barriers to liquid biopsy detection. Discover advances in sample processing, tumour signal enrichment and cfDNA analysis that could help recover more meaningful information from limited samples and improve the sensitivity and reliability of liquid biopsy assays.
Talk 1: Where, When and How to Capture Circulating Tumour DNA
- Exploring different reservoirs of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in blood and their implications for liquid biopsy analysis.
- Investigating where long and short DNA fragments are enriched across different blood fractions.
- Examining how ctDNA distribution influences the recovery of tumour-derived signals during sample processing.
- Demonstrating how blood filtration can provide a rapid alternative to centrifugation.
- Optimising sample processing to improve ctDNA recovery and liquid biopsy workflows.
Daniel Hagey, Assistant Professor, Karolinska Institute
Talk 2: Capturing the Signal with Tumor-Informed MRD Panels
- Who Twist Bioscience is. How our silicon-based DNA synthesis platform powers NGS target enrichment for cancer research.
- How to capture the faint ctDNA signal. Learn how Twist probes keep hard-to-capture variants visible when standard designs drop them, with even coverage whether your panel tracks 50 variants or 5,000.
- How MRD Express puts tumor-informed MRD research in your hands. Design panels online with up to 10,000 tumor-informed probes, detect variants at 10 ppm and below, and order touchless through our API as your program scales.
Hanna Berning, Staff Product Marketing, NGS, Twist Bioscience
Talk 3: Overcoming the Molecular Limits of cfDNA Detection
- Understanding how the number of tumour-derived DNA molecules in a sample limits liquid biopsy sensitivity.
- Exploring how tumour DNA abundance varies across biofluids and cancer types.
- Investigating strategies to increase tumour-derived material available for analysis.
- Developing tumour DNA enrichment approaches to improve detection sensitivity.
- Overcoming molecular limitations in highly sensitive applications, including MRD and early cancer detection.
Shervin Tabrizi, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania
Webinar 3: From Promising Assay to Real-World Impact
Tuesday 1st December 2026 at 3pm GMT/ 4pm CET/ 10am EST
A promising biomarker is only the beginning. What does it take to turn a scientific discovery into a clinically useful test?
Liquid biopsy research continues to uncover promising biomarkers and new opportunities for cancer detection and monitoring. But demonstrating analytical performance is only one part of the challenge. Clinical validation, evidence of patient benefit and practical implementation are all essential to translating these advances into routine care.
This webinar will explore how researchers are bridging the gap between biomarker discovery and clinical application. From DNA methylation biomarkers to approaches combining multiple molecular signals, discover how researchers are evaluating clinical utility, improving diagnostic performance and addressing the challenges of bringing liquid biopsy into real-world practice.
Talk 1: From Tumour Biology to Clinical Decisions: The Evolving Role of Liquid Biopsy
- Exploring how CTCs, ctDNA and extracellular vesicles provide complementary insights into tumour biology and disease progression.
- Using liquid biopsy to investigate tumour heterogeneity, evolution and the emergence of treatment resistance.
- Exploring how circulating biomarkers could help monitor treatment response, detect relapse and identify therapeutic targets.
- Examining the potential of liquid biopsy to monitor antitumour immune responses and inform immunotherapy.
- Addressing the challenges of clinical translation, including assay standardisation, validation and demonstrating clinical utility.
Klaus Pantel, Director of the Institute of Tumour Biology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Talk 2: Demonstrating Clinical Utility: Lessons from DNA Methylation Biomarkers
- Developing DNA methylation biomarkers for cancer detection and monitoring, including bladder and bile duct cancers.
- Designing assays around clinical needs, balancing sensitivity and specificity for different applications.
- Demonstrating clinical utility through large-scale prospective, multicentre validation studies.
- Evaluating patient benefits, including reducing invasive procedures, alongside cost-effectiveness and scalability.
- Overcoming challenges in assay standardisation, regulatory approval and clinical implementation.
Guro Elisabeth Lind, Professor of Epigenetics, Oslo University Hospital
Talk 3: Integrating Multiple Biomarkers to Improve Liquid Biopsy Performance
- Combining circulating tumour cells (CTCs), cfDNA and plasma proteomics to capture complementary information about tumour biology, host responses and systemic disease.
- Exploring how multimodal approaches can improve cancer detection, including combining liquid biopsy biomarkers with imaging to distinguish true-positive and false-positive findings.
- Investigating how different molecular signals can be measured and integrated from a single blood sample, and what each adds beyond individual biomarkers.
- Applying AI to analyse complex liquid biopsy datasets, including automated CTC identification, DNA methylation analysis and multi-omics integration.
- Optimising biomarker panels by refining large discovery datasets into smaller, more targeted signatures while maintaining analytical performance.
Dominic Rothwell, Deputy Director, CRUK National Biomarker Centre
