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Nature Medicine 14, 914 - 915 (2008)
doi:10.1038/nm0908-914

Cell-free DNA resuscitated for tumor testing

Michael Fleischhacker1 & Bernd Schmidt1

  1. Michael Fleischhacker is at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus-Mitte Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Onkologie und Hämatologie, Molekularbiologisches Labor, Charitéplatz 1, D-10117 Berlin, Germany.
  2. Bernd Schmidt is at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus-Mitte, Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Infektiologie und Pneumologie, Bereich Pneumologie (Professor Christian Witt), Charitéplatz 1, D-10117 Berlin, Germany.
    e-mail: michael.fleischhacker@charite.de


Extracellular DNA floating around in blood plasma provides an accessible template for detecting mutations associated with tumors. A new technique is able to quantify such mutated DNA and predict relapse in individuals with colorectal cancer. The technique complements other approaches, such as the analysis of tumor cells in the plasma (pages 985–990).

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