DNA integrity assay: a plasma-based screening tool for the detection of prostate cancer.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of the DNA integrity assay (DIA) as a plasma-based screening tool for the detection of prostate cancer.

Experimental Design: Blood samples were collected from patients with biopsy-proven prostate cancer prior to prostatectomy (n = 123) and processed as two-spin plasma preparations. The three control groups included: males <40 years old with no history of cancer (group 1, n = 20); cancer-free postprostatectomy patients (group 2, n = 25), and patients with a negative prostate biopsy (group 3, n = 22).

DNA integrity as a potential marker for stool-based detection of colorectal cancer.

Background: Molecular genetic analysis of DNA in patient stools has been proposed for screening of colorectal cancer (CRC). Because nonapoptotic cells shed from tumors may contain DNA that is less degraded than DNA fragments from healthy colonic mucosa, our aim was to show that DNA fragments isolated from stools of patients with CRC had higher integrity than DNA isolated from stools of patients with healthy colonic mucosa.

Methods: We purified DNA from the stools of a colonoscopy-negative control group and patients with CRC and examined the relationship between long DNA fragments and clinical status by determining stool DNA integrity, using oligonucleotide-based hybrid captures with specific target sequences in increasingly long PCR reactions (200 bp, 400 bp, 800 bp, 1.

Accurate, noninvasive detection of Helicobacter pylori DNA from stool samples: potential usefulness for monitoring treatment.

A novel DNA assay demonstrating sensitive and accurate detection of Helicobacter pylori from stool samples is reported. Moreover, in three individuals tested for therapeutic response, the assay showed the disappearance of H. pylori DNA during treatment.