Blood platelets contain tumor-derived RNA biomarkers

R. Jonas A. Nilsson, Leonora Balaj, Esther Hulleman, Sjoerd Van Rijn, D. Michiel Pegtel, Maudy Walraven, Anders Widmark, Winald R. Gerritsen, Henk M. Verheul, W. Peter Vandertop, David P. Noske, Johan Skog, Thomas Würdinger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

179 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3680-3683
Number of pages4
JournalBlood
Volume118
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 29 2011
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Immunology
  • Hematology
  • Cell Biology

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