ArticleMolecular cancer2009
Levels of plasma circulating cell free nuclear and mitochondrial DNA as potential biomarkers for breast tumors.
Article in Molecular cancer, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 104 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
104 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 213 citations in OpenAlex.
- Precision medicine in diagnosis, prognosis, and disease monitoring of bone and soft tissue sarcomas using liquid biopsy: a systematic review.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Diagnostic Value of Concentration of Circulating Cell-Free DNA in Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2019Pooled it
- Value of circulating cell-free DNA analysis as a diagnostic tool for breast cancer: a meta-analysis.Oncotarget · 2017Pooled it
- Quantifying circulating cell-free DNA in humans.Scientific reports · 2019Trial
- Circulating mitochondrial and cellular damage markers in long COVID: Links to cognitive function, psychological distress, and inflammation.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Article
- ccfDNA analysis for the classification of adrenocortical adenomas.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2025Article
- Neutrophil extracellular traps in diseases of the female reproductive organs.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- An Investigation into Cell-Free DNA in Different Common Cancers.Molecular biotechnology · 2024Review
- Correlation between circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA content and severity of knee degeneration in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a cross-sectional study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2024Article
- Response of Circulating Free Cellular DNA to Repeated Exercise in Men with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Review
- Seminal cell-free DNA as a potential marker for in vitro fertility of Nellore bulls.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2024Article
- Exploring the Role of Cell-Free Nucleic Acids and Peritoneal Dialysis: A Narrative Review.Genes · 2024Review
- Tumor diagnosis using carbon-based quantum dots: Detection based on the hallmarks of cancer.Bioactive materials · 2024Review
- Our current understanding of the biological impact of endometrial cancer mtDNA genome mutations and their potential use as a biomarker.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Review
- Circulating Cell-Free Mitochondrial DNA in Plasma of Individuals with Schizophrenia and Cognitive Deficit in Mexican Population.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2024Article
- The changing face of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) profiling: Factors that shape the landscape of methodologies, technologies, and commercialization.Medizinische Genetik : Mitteilungsblatt des Berufsverbandes Medizinische Genetik e.V · 2023Article
- Mitochondrial Cation Signalling in the Control of Inflammatory Processes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Clinicopathological and circulating cell-free DNA profile in myositis associated with anti-mitochondrial antibody.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2023Article
44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWith the aim to simplify cancer management, cancer research lately dedicated itself more and more to discover and develop non-invasive biomarkers. In this connection, circulating cell-free DNA (ccf DNA) seems to be a promising candidate. Altered levels of ccf nuclear DNA (nDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been found in several cancer types and might have a diagnostic value.
methodsUsing multiplex real-time PCR we investigated the levels of ccf nDNA and mtDNA in plasma samples from patients with malignant and benign breast tumors, and from healthy controls. To evaluate the applicability of plasma ccf nDNA and mtDNA as a biomarker for distinguishing between the three study-groups we performed ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curve analysis. We also compared the levels of both species in the cancer group with clinicopathological parameters.
resultsWhile the levels of ccf nDNA in the cancer group were significantly higher in comparison with the benign tumor group (P < 0.001) and the healthy control group (P < 0.001), the level of ccf mtDNA was found to be significantly lower in the two tumor-groups (benign: P < 0.001; malignant: P = 0.022). The level of ccf nDNA was also associated with tumor-size (<2 cm vs. >2 cm<5 cm; 2250 vs. 6658; Mann-Whitney-U-Test: P = 0.034). Using ROC curve analysis, we were able to distinguish between the breast cancer cases and the healthy controls using ccf nDNA as marker (cut-off: 1866 GE/ml; sensitivity: 81%; specificity: 69%; P < 0.001) and between the tumor group and the healthy controls using ccf mtDNA as marker (cut-off: 463282 GE/ml; sensitivity: 53%; specificity: 87%; P < 0.001).
conclusionOur data suggests that nuclear and mitochondrial ccf DNA have potential as biomarkers in breast tumor management. However, ccf nDNA shows greater promise regarding sensitivity and specificity.
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