Blood platelets contain tumor-derived RNA biomarkers

R. Jonas A. Nilsson(Cancer Center Amsterdam), Leonora Balaj(Harvard University), Esther Hulleman(Pediatric Oncology Group), Sjoerd van Rijn(Cancer Center Amsterdam), D. Michiel Pegtel, Maudy Walraven(Cancer Center Amsterdam), Anders Widmark(Umeå University), Winald R. Gerritsen(Cancer Center Amsterdam), Henk M.W. Verheul(Cancer Center Amsterdam), W. Peter Vandertop(Cancer Center Amsterdam), David P. Noske(Cancer Center Amsterdam), Johan Skog(Harvard University), Thomas Würdinger(Harvard University)
Blood
August 11, 2011
10.1182/blood-2011-03-344408
Cited by 391Open Access
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Abstract

Diagnostic platforms providing biomarkers that are highly predictive for diagnosing, monitoring, and stratifying cancer patients are key instruments in the development of personalized medicine. We demonstrate that tumor cells transfer (mutant) RNA into blood platelets in vitro and in vivo, and show that blood platelets isolated from glioma and prostate cancer patients contain the cancer-associated RNA biomarkers EGFRvIII and PCA3, respectively. In addition, gene-expression profiling revealed a distinct RNA signature in platelets from glioma patients compared with normal control subjects. Because platelets are easily accessible and isolated, they may form an attractive platform for the companion diagnostics of cancer.

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