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 Oct 9;17(1):136.
doi: 10.1186/s13058-015-0645-5.

Circulating DNA as biomarker in breast cancer

Heidi Schwarzenbach  1 , Klaus Pantel  2
Affiliations
Review

Circulating DNA as biomarker in breast cancer

Heidi Schwarzenbach et al. Breast Cancer Res. .

Abstract

As the release of tumor-associated DNA into blood circulation is a common event in patients with cancer, screening of plasma or serum DNA may provide information on genetic and epigenetic profiles associated with breast cancer development, progression, and response to therapy. Quantitative testing of circulating DNA can reflect tumor burden, and molecular characterization of circulating DNA can reveal important tumor characteristics relevant to the choice of targeted therapies in individual patients. Contrary to circulating DNA from blood that presents molecular changes in tumor DNA in real time, tissue biopsies can deliver only a spatially and temporally limited snapshot of the heterogeneous tumor. Analyses of circulating DNA might provide prognostic and predictive information and therefore advance personalized medicine. However, standardization of different technical platforms as well as the control of pre-analytical and analytical factors is mandatory before its introduction into clinical practice. In the present review, we discussed technical aspects and clinical relevance of the analyses of circulating plasma/serum DNA in patients with breast cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Mandel P, Métais P. Les acides nucléiques du plasma sanguin chez l'homme (Nucleic acids in human blood plasma) C R Acad Sci Paris. 1948;142:241–3. - PubMed
    1. Leon SA, Shapiro B, Sklaroff DM, Yaros MJ. Free DNA in the serum of cancer patients and the effect of therapy. Cancer Res. 1977;37:646–50. - PubMed
    1. Silva JM, Dominguez G, Garcia JM, Gonzalez R, Villanueva MJ, Navarro F, et al. Presence of tumor DNA in plasma of breast cancer patients: clinicopathological correlations. Cancer Res. 1999;59:3251–6. - PubMed
    1. Silva JM, Dominguez G, Villanueva MJ, Gonzalez R, Garcia JM, Corbacho C, et al. Aberrant DNA methylation of the p16INK4a gene in plasma DNA of breast cancer patients. Br J Cancer. 1999;80:1262–4. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6690495. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Silva JM, Gonzalez R, Dominguez G, Garcia JM, Espana P, Bonilla F. TP53 gene mutations in plasma DNA of cancer patients. Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 1999;24:160–1. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2264(199902)24:2<160::AID-GCC10>3.0.CO;2-C. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types