Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Jun 19;16(6):14122-42.
doi: 10.3390/ijms160614122.

Circulating Cell-Free Tumour DNA in the Management of Cancer

Glenn Francis  1   2   3 , Sandra Stein  4
Affiliations
Review

Circulating Cell-Free Tumour DNA in the Management of Cancer

Glenn Francis et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

With the development of new sensitive molecular techniques, circulating cell-free tumour DNA containing mutations can be identified in the plasma of cancer patients. The applications of this technology may result in significant changes to the care and management of cancer patients. Whilst, currently, these "liquid biopsies" are used to supplement the histological diagnosis of cancer and metastatic disease, in the future these assays may replace the need for invasive procedures. Applications include the monitoring of tumour burden, the monitoring of minimal residual disease, monitoring of tumour heterogeneity, monitoring of molecular resistance and early diagnosis of tumours and metastatic disease.

Keywords: cell-free DNA; cell-free tumour DNA; colorectal carcinoma; liquid biopsy; melanoma; minimal residual disease; non-small cell lung cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Limit of detection curve for AKT1 c.49G>A p.E17K using combined allele specific PCR and digital PCR.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Allred D.C., Harvey J.M., Berardo M., Clark G.M. Prognostic and predictive factors in breast cancer by immunohistochemical analysis. Mod. Pathol. 1998;11:155–168. - PubMed
    1. Jones H.B. On a new substance occurring in the urine of a patient with mollities ossium. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. 1848;138:55–62. doi: 10.1098/rstl.1848.0003. - DOI
    1. Marzese D.M., Hirose H., Hoon D.S. Diagnostic and prognostic value of circulating tumor-related DNA in cancer patients. Exp. Rev. Mol. Diagn. 2013;13:827–844. doi: 10.1586/14737159.2013.845088. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Long G.V., Menzies A.M., Nagrial A.M., Haydu L.E., Hamilton A.L., Mann G.J., Hughes T.M., Thompson J.F., Scolyer R.A., Kefford R.F. Prognostic and clinicopathologic associations of oncogenic BRAF in metastatic melanoma. J. Clin. Oncol. 2011;29:1239–1246. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2010.32.4327. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chapman P.B., Hauschild A., Robert C., Haanen J.B., Ascierto P., Larkin J., Dummer R., Garbe C., Testori A., Maio M., et al. Improved survival with vemurafenib in melanoma with BRAF V600E mutation. N. Engl. J. Med. 2011;364:2507–2516. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1103782. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources