RESUMEN
Small amounts of DNA circulate in both healthy and diseased human plasma/serum, and increased concentrations of DNA are present in the plasma of cancer patients. Characteristics of tumor DNA have been found in genetic material extracted from the plasma of cancer patients. These features include decreased strand stability, the presence of specific oncogene or tumor suppressor gene mutations, microsatellite alterations, Ig rearrangements and hypermethylation of several genes. The results obtained in many different cancers have opened a new research area indicating that plasma DNA might eventually be a suitable target for the development of noninvasive diagnostic, prognostic and follow-up tests for cancer. Following the discovery of tumor derived DNA in plasma or serum, cell-free fetal DNA has also been found in maternal plasma and serum. This discovery provides an easily accessible source of fetal genetic material for prenatal diagnosis.
Asunto(s)
ADN de Neoplasias/sangre , Neoplasias/sangre , Reordenamiento Génico de Cadena Pesada de Linfocito B/genética , Genes Supresores de Tumor , Genes ras/genética , Marcadores Genéticos , Humanos , Repeticiones de Microsatélite/genética , Mutación , Neoplasias/diagnóstico , Neoplasias/genética , Diagnóstico Prenatal , PronósticoRESUMEN
Small amounts of DNA circulate in both healthy and diseased human plasma/serum, and increased concentrations of DNA are present in the plasma of cancer patients. Characteristics of tumor DNA have been found in genetic material extracted from the plasma of cancer patients. These features include decreased strand stability, the presence of specific oncogene or tumor suppressor gene mutations, microsatellite alterations, Ig rearrangements and hypermethylation of several genes. The results obtained in many different cancers have opened a new research area indicating that plasma DNA might eventually be a suitable target for the development of noninvasive diagnostic, prognostic and follow-up tests for cancer. Following the discovery of tumor derived DNA in plasma or serum, cell-free fetal DNA has also been found in maternal plasma and serum. This discovery provides an easily accessible source of fetal genetic material for prenatal diagnosis.
RESUMEN
Small amounts of DNA circulate in both healthy and diseased human plasma/serum, and increased concentrations of DNA are present in the plasma of cancer patients. Characteristics of tumor DNA have been found in genetic material extracted from the plasma of cancer patients. These features include decreased strand stability, the presence of specific oncogene or tumor suppressor gene mutations, microsatellite alterations, Ig rearrangements and hypermethylation of several genes. The results obtained in many different cancers have opened a new research area indicating that plasma DNA might eventually be a suitable target for the development of noninvasive diagnostic, prognostic and follow-up tests for cancer. Following the discovery of tumor derived DNA in plasma or serum, cell-free fetal DNA has also been found in maternal plasma and serum. This discovery provides an easily accessible source of fetal genetic material for prenatal diagnosis.
Asunto(s)
Humanos , ADN de Neoplasias/sangre , Neoplasias/sangre , Diagnóstico Prenatal , Pronóstico , Reordenamiento Génico de Cadena Pesada de Linfocito B/genética , Marcadores Genéticos , Genes Supresores de Tumor , Genes ras/genética , Repeticiones de Microsatélite/genética , Mutación , Neoplasias/diagnóstico , Neoplasias/genéticaRESUMEN
Human tumors exhibit two fundamentally important characteristics, extensive genetic alteration and clonality. Although it is still unclear to what extent tumors have an elevated mutational burden as compared with normal tissue, their clonality results in their ready detection. Thus, assaying tissues for clonal alterations at frequently mutated microsatellite loci represents a viable approach to cancer diagnosis. The most remarkable extension of this concept is that not only can cancer cells be detected in biological samples, but tumor DNA can also be directly detected in the serum or plasma of patients with some forms of cancer. This recent finding is currently being explored but may represent an important contribution to future diagnostic strategies.