Quantitative Analysis of Plasma Circulating Cell-Free Nucleic Acid Based Biomarkers in Patients with Breast Cancer

The higher mortality rate due to breast cancer can be reduced to a significant extent by its diagnosis at an early stage through non-invasive methods. The quantitative analysis of plasma circulating cell-free nucleic acid biomarkers presents a promising approach for early diagnosis of breast cancer. In the present study, the level of fcDNA was measured in plasma of patients suffering from breast cancer and in healthy controls by quantitative real-time PCR using human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (hTERT) and β-globin genes as reference markers. It was observed that the concentration of fcDNA was significantly higher in patients with breast cancer than in healthy individuals. It was also observed that the dosage of survivin and CK-19 genes in cDNA of patients was considerably higher as compared to healthy controls. The diagnostic ability (specificity and sensitivity) of each biomarker was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and p < 0.05 was considered significant statistically. Our findings demonstrate that the presence of higher-level plasma fcDNA and RNA based biomarkers in patients with breast cancer than in health individuals suggest a novel and non-invasive approach for screening, early diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer.