Somatic mutations in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) can be detected as a 'liquid biopsy' to identify cancers, potentially before imaging detection.

“where you would look for these somatic mute rotations you described this before but when you're looking for that needle in a haystack if you've got a tumor that's going to Slough off some of that DNA into the circulation you might be able to see some of that fragmented DNA floating around and you might be able to pick up some of those mutations that might be reflective of that mammary cell that's either gone awry and is a cancer but maybe not something that you're detecting on mammography or something else”