When a doctor suspects a patient has cancer, a tissue biopsy is one of the first procedures performed. The news is certainly bad, and not just because the sampling itself is risky, invasive, expensive, and painful! Prof. Pantel’s research is at the cutting edge of a new field of study that focuses on the use of liquid (blood) biopsies, which relies on the detection of circulating tumor cells and DNA. This innovative approach will undoubtedly transform cancer diagnostics and monitoring in the coming decade.