Monitoring of Early Changes of Circulating Tumor DNA in the Plasma of Rectal Cancer Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Concomitant Chemoradiotherapy: Evaluation for Prognosis and Prediction of Therapeutic Response.

Patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) are undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) prior to surgery. Although in some patients the NCRT is known to prevent local recurrence, it is also accompanied by side effects. Accordingly, there is an unmet need to identify predictive markers allowing to identify non-responders to avoid its adverse effects.

Comparison of Native Aspirates and Cytological Smears Obtained by EUS-Guided Biopsies for Effective DNA/RNA Marker Testing in Pancreatic Cancer.

We compare two types of pancreatic carcinoma samples obtained by EUS-guided fine needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) in terms of the success rates and clinical validity of analysis of two most commonly investigated DNA/RNA pancreatic cancer markers, KRAS mutations and miR-21 expression. 118 patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma underwent EUS-FNB. The collected sample was divided, one part was stored in a stabilizing solution as native aspirate (EUS-FNA) and second part was processed into the cytological smear (EUS-FNC).

Application of denaturing capillary electrophoresis for the detection of prognostic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 genes in brain tumors.

Malignant transformation in gliomas is frequently supplemented by somatic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 genes. It has recently emerged that mutations in these genes are associated with prolonged survival and should be used as prognostic factor in management of brain cancer patients. There are several approaches in use for the detection of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 mutations; however, these often exhibit shortcomings such as convoluted protocols with long processing time, complex (and costly) dedicated fluorescent probes, and/or demand on amounts of input DNA.

Capillary electrophoresis, a method for the determination of nucleic acid ligands covalently attached to quantum dots representing a donor of Förster resonance energy transfer.

The synthesis and determination of the structure of a Förster resonance energy transfer probe intended for the detection of specific nucleic acid sequences are described here. The probe is based on the hybridization of oligonucleotide modified quantum dots with a fluorescently labeled nucleic acid sample resulting in changes of the fluorescence emission due to the energy transfer effect. The stoichiometry distribution of oligonucleotides conjugated to quantum dots was determined by capillary electrophoresis separation.

Monitoring of Circulating Tumor Cells by a Combination of Immunomagnetic Enrichment and RT-PCR in Colorectal Cancer Patients Undergoing Surgery.

Background: The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTC) has been reported in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Monitoring CTC (also known as a liquid-biopsy) has recently become the center of interest for low-invasive monitoring of cancer progression and predictive biomarkers testing. Along with high-cost technology and a complex methodology, a straightforward method based on magnetic beads enrichment followed by RT-PCR is set to allow for routine CTC analysis in colorectal cancer patients.