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Nature Medicine 14, 914 - 915 (2008)
doi:10.1038/nm0908-914
Cell-free DNA resuscitated for tumor testing
Michael Fleischhacker1 & Bernd Schmidt1
- Michael Fleischhacker is at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus-Mitte Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Onkologie und Hämatologie, Molekularbiologisches Labor, Charitéplatz 1, D-10117 Berlin, Germany.
- Bernd Schmidt is at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus-Mitte, Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Infektiologie und Pneumologie, Bereich Pneumologie (Professor Christian Witt), Charitéplatz 1, D-10117 Berlin, Germany.
e-mail: michael.fleischhacker@charite.de
Abstract
Extracellular DNA floating around in blood plasma provides an accessible template for detecting mutations associated with tumors. A new technique is able to quantify such mutated DNA and predict relapse in individuals with colorectal cancer. The technique complements other approaches, such as the analysis of tumor cells in the plasma (pages 985–990).
There are times when even important discoveries go unnoticed. In 1948, two French scientists published the surprising discovery that extracellular nucleic acids float around in human blood plasma1.
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