Circulating nucleic acids as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in various malignant and benign diseases

Abstract

Elevated levels of circulating nucleic acids have been found in a variety of benign and malignant pathological conditions. The ability to detect and quantitate specific DNA, RNA and micro-RNA sequences in serum/ plasma has opened up the possibilities of non-invasive diagnosis and monitoring of diseases. Circulating nucleic acids have now been shown to be useful in other conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, stroke and myocardial infarction. Plasma DNA is already in use for fetal blood group typing in many countries.
With the rapid development in molecular biology techniques the application of circulating nucleic acids in diagnostics especially in cancer and prenatal diagnosis is expected to be revolutionized.