Liquid biopsies come of age: towards implementation of circulating tumour DNA

Improvements in genomic and molecular methods are expanding the range of potential applications for circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA), both in a research setting and as a ‘liquid biopsy’ for cancer management. Proof-of-principle studies have demonstrated the translational potential of ctDNA for prognostication, molecular profiling and monitoring. The field is now in an exciting transitional period in which ctDNA analysis is beginning to be applied clinically, although there is still much to learn about the biology of cell-free DNA. This is an opportune time to appraise potential approaches to ctDNA analysis, and to consider their applications in personalized oncology and in cancer research.We would like to acknowledge the support of The University of Cambridge, Cancer Research UK (grant numbers A11906, A20240, A15601) (to N.R., J.D.B.), the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013)/ERC Grant Agreement n. 337905 (to N.R.), the Cambridge Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, and Hutchison Whampoa Limited (to N.R.), AstraZeneca (to R.B., S.P.), the Cambridge Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) (to R.B., S.P.), and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) (to R.B., S.P.). J.G.C. acknowledges clinical fellowship support from SEOM

The relationship between factor VIII and coronary artery diseases [Faktör VIII düzeyi i·le koroner arter hastali{dotless} gi{dotless} arasi{dotless} ndaki i·lişki]

Aim: Cardiovascular diseases are the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There are some evidences showing a possible role for hemotostatic system in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic vascular diseases. In our study, we aimed to show the relationship between coronary artery diseases and factor VIII (F VIII). Methods: 60 patients were included in the study. Blood samples for F VIII were taken before and after the standard Bruce treadmill stress test. Patients with positive stress test underwent coronary angiography. Results: The F VIII levels after the treadmill test were statistically significantly high (p:0.0001) compared to that before the test. A significant difference was determined in favor of female patients both before (p=0.002) and after (p=0.009) the treadmill exercise test when F VIII levels were assessed by gender. Conclusion: Since the discovery of the important role of thrombosis in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic diseases, investigators are working on whether the haemostatic status is the primary risk factor in coronary artery disease (CAD).Our study results, similar to the literature, showed that F VIII levels in women can be helpful in the diagnosis and follow-up of CAD. But as shown in other studies, F VIII levels may increase in an inflammatory state. Therefore, further studies are needed to determine whether CAD is caused by high levels of F VIII or risk factors for CAD cause endothelial damage and, thus, high levels of F VIII are the result of an inflammatory process

Review ctDNA and Breast Cancer

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