Blood platelets contain tumor-derived RNA biomarkers

Jonas Nilsson, Leonora Balaj, Esther Hulleman, Sjoerd van Rijn, D. Michiel Pegtel, Maudy Walraven, Anders Widmark, Winald R. Gerritsen, Henk M. Verheul, William P. Vandertop, David P. Noske, Johan Skog, Thomas Wurdinger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

310 Citations (Scopus)

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
Pages (from-to)3680-3683
Number of pages4
JournalBlood
Volume118
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Sept 2011
Externally publishedYes

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