Background: The circulating DNA concentration and integrity was examined by a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in the plasma from patients with gastric cancer and their diagnostic value for the detection of gastric cancer assessed.
Patients and methods: Plasma samples were collected preoperatively from 53 patients with gastric cancer and 21 healthy controls. qPCR was performed using two different primer sets for the beta-actin gene, amplifying short and long segments. DNA integrity was calculated as the ratio of concentrations in both assays.
Results: The DNA concentrations in the short and long assays of the gastric cancer patients were significantly higher (p=0.03 and p<0.0001, respectively) than those of the control group. The DNA integrity was also higher in cancer patients than that of the controls, however the difference was not significant (p=0.07).
Conclusion: The plasma DNA concentration assay may serve as a new diagnostic marker for the screening and monitoring of patients with gastric cancer.