Publications by authors named "A N Markou"
Liquid biopsy enables real-time monitoring of tumor development and response to therapy through the analysis of CTCs and ctDNA. NALCN is a sodium leak channel that is frequently involved in tumor evolution and immunity and acts as a tumor suppressor. Deletion of NALCN has been shown to increase cancer metastasis and the number of CTCs in peripheral blood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDirect comparison of an ultrasensitive real-time PCR assay with droplet digital PCR for the detection of hotspot mutations in primary tumors, plasma cell-free DNA and paired CTC-derived gDNAs.
Stavroula Smilkou Loukas Kaklamanis Ioanna Balgouranidou Helena Linardou Alkistis Maria Papatheodoridi Athina Markou
Front Oncol
December 2024
Article Synopsis
- The study compares the effectiveness of ultrasensitive real-time PCR and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) in detecting specific mutations associated with breast cancer in primary tumors and liquid biopsy samples.
- The research involved analyzing genetic material from 42 tumor samples and 29 plasma samples from patients with ER+ metastatic breast cancer, as well as samples from healthy donors.
- Results showed that both methods provided similar detection rates for certain mutations in tumor samples, with ultrasensitive real-time PCR performing better in plasma-cfDNA samples, indicating potential for non-invasive testing in cancer management.
Article Synopsis
- Lung cancer is a major global health issue, with challenges in early detection and relapse identification; blood-based liquid biopsies show potential in non-invasive monitoring.
- Researchers used a comprehensive approach combining various datasets to identify candidate biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), connecting them to specific molecular pathways.
- Results indicated that certain metabolites and RNA expressions in plasma EVs correlate with disease progression and overall survival in NSCLC patients, highlighting their potential as prognostic biomarkers.
: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) remains a challenging disease to manage with effectiveness. Early detection and precise monitoring are crucial for improving patient outcomes. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) offers a non-invasive cancer detection and monitoring method.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Molecular-based assays are widely used for detecting viruses in wastewater, but inhibitors present in the wastewater can lead to false negatives and underestimation of viral loads.
- Various strategies, including sample dilution and the use of inhibitor removal kits, have been tested to combat these issues, with the addition of T4 gene 32 protein showing the most significant improvement in detection accuracy.
- The optimized reverse-transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) method was effective for testing SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and demonstrated a strong correlation with the more sensitive reverse-transcription droplet digital PCR (RT-ddPCR) method.