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Circulating nucleic acids as a new diagnostic tool

Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters volume 15, pages 242–259 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

The discovery of circulating nucleic acids in the 1940s opened up new possibilities for the non-invasive detection, monitoring and screening of various human disorders. Several tumour markers that enable early cancer detection or tumour behaviour prediction have been detected in the plasma of cancer patients. Maternal plasma analysis can be used to detect certain fetal abnormalities, with the quantification of cell-free nucleic acids used to screen for several pregnancy-associated disorders. Some other applications are in transplant monitoring and graft rejection assessment, and in certain medical emergencies such as trauma and burn severity stratification. Many studies have yielded promising results in this field, but the techniques have yet to be applied in routine clinical practice. Large-scale studies using similar technologies and a broad spectrum of patients are still needed to verify the results of the various studies.

Abbreviations

CNA:

circulating nucleic acid

DNA:

deoxyribonucleic acid

EBV:

Epstein-Barr virus

HPV:

human papilloma virus

LOH:

loss of heterozygosity

RNA:

ribonucleic acid

SCD:

sickle cell disease

TBSA:

total body surface area

TSG:

tumour suppressor gene

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1st Faculty of Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty Hospital Motol, Institute of Postgraduate Medicine, Charles University, V Uvalu 84, 15006, Prague 5, Czech Republic

    Marketa Urbanova, Jan Plzak & Jan Betka

  2. Institute of Molecular Genetics, Department of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Videnska 1083, 14220, Prague 4, Czech Republic

    Marketa Urbanova & Hynek Strnad

  3. 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Centre of Cell Therapy and Tissue Repair, Charles University, V Uvalu 84, 15006, Prague 5, Czech Republic

    Jan Plzak

  4. 1st Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Anatomy, Charles University, U Nemocnice 3, 12800, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Jan Plzak

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  1. Marketa Urbanova
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  2. Jan Plzak
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  3. Hynek Strnad
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  4. Jan Betka
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Correspondence to Jan Plzak.

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Urbanova, M., Plzak, J., Strnad, H. et al. Circulating nucleic acids as a new diagnostic tool. Cell Mol Biol Lett 15, 242–259 (2010). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11658-010-0004-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11658-010-0004-6

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Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters

ISSN: 1689-1392

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