Microsatellite Alterations in Serum DNA of Lung Cancer Patients.

Purpose: Neoplastic progression is accompanied by multiple genetic alterations, which include the functional loss of tumor suppressor genes, and tumor specific genetic alterations are increasingly being investigated as molecular tumor markers. Recently, genetic changes including microsatellite alterations have been found in the serum DNA of cancer patients. Many studies have shown that alterations in the DNA isolated from serum tend to be identical to those found in tumor tissue. If so, serum DNA alterations may be very useful for detecting tumoral genetic changes. The aim of this study was to detect chromosome 3p microsatellite alterations, such as loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability, in the serum DNA of lung cancer patients.D3S4597, D3S1573). Results: We found that heterozygotes were present in 18 of 46 cases (39%) for D3S4623, and LOH was detected in two of these 18 cases (11%). In D3S4597, heterozygotes were present in 26 of 46 cases (56.5%) and LOH was detected in 9 of these 26 heterozygotes (34.6%). Heterozygotes of D3S1573 were present in 19 of 46 cases (41.3%) and LOH was detected in 7 of these 19 cases (36.8%). The serum DNA of 10 of 26 patients exhibited LOH in at least one of the three markers investigated (38.46%). Conclusion: Our result suggest that the microsatellite alterations in tumor DNA can be detected in the serum of lung cancer patients, and that serum DNA may be usefully used for the diagnosis and screening of lung cancer.