UNLABELLED: The quantity and quality of circulating DNA fragments was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions (qPCR) in plasma from patients with esophageal carcinomas, in order to assess their diagnostic value. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Plasma was collected preoperatively from 24 patients with esophageal cancer and 21 healthy controls. qPCR was performed using two primer sets for the beta-actin gene, amplifying short and long segments. RESULTS: The DNA concentrations in both the short and long assays of esophageal cancer patients were significantly higher than the controls (p<0.001). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was 0.83 (short) and 0.91 (long) for esophageal cancer patients versus the controls. There was also a significant difference in DNA integrity (short/long) between esophageal cancer patients and the control group (p= 0.001). CONCLUSION: qPCR assays for plasma DNA concentrations and their integrity can serve as new diagnostic markers for screening and monitoring patients with esophageal cancer.
UNLABELLED: The quantity and quality of circulating DNA fragments was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions (qPCR) in plasma from patients with esophageal carcinomas, in order to assess their diagnostic value. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Plasma was collected preoperatively from 24 patients with esophageal cancer and 21 healthy controls. qPCR was performed using two primer sets for the beta-actin gene, amplifying short and long segments. RESULTS: The DNA concentrations in both the short and long assays of esophageal cancerpatients were significantly higher than the controls (p<0.001). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was 0.83 (short) and 0.91 (long) for esophageal cancerpatients versus the controls. There was also a significant difference in DNA integrity (short/long) between esophageal cancerpatients and the control group (p= 0.001). CONCLUSION: qPCR assays for plasma DNA concentrations and their integrity can serve as new diagnostic markers for screening and monitoring patients with esophageal cancer.
Authors: H Takeshita; D Ichikawa; S Komatsu; M Tsujiura; T Kosuga; K Deguchi; H Konishi; R Morimura; A Shiozaki; H Fujiwara; K Okamoto; E Otsuji Journal: Br J Cancer Date: 2010-04-13 Impact factor: 7.640