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Detection of Tumor‐Specific mRNA in Cell‐Free Bronchial Lavage Supernatant in Patients with Lung Cancer
Author(s) -
ENGEL E,
SCHMIDT B,
CARSTENSEN T,
WEICKMANN S,
JANDRIG B,
WITT C,
FLEISCHHACKER M
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1318.023
Subject(s) - lung cancer , reverse transcriptase , messenger rna , microbiology and biotechnology , complementary dna , lung , cell , reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction , biology , polymerase chain reaction , cancer , gene expression , rna , pathology , malignancy , gene , medicine , biochemistry
A bstract : Bronchoscopy is a standard procedure in the workup of patients with suspicious pulmonary lesions. We wondered whether it is possible to isolate malignancy‐associated mRNA from cell‐free lavage supernatant. Extracellular mRNA from cell‐free lavage supernatant of 25 patients with lung cancer (23 with non‐small cell lung cancer, 2 with small cell lung cancer) was isolated, reverse‐transcribed, and amplified by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The quantity and quality of the isolated RNA were checked after cDNA synthesis by amplification with β‐actin‐specific primers. Afterwards, a panel of eight genes known to be expressed in lung tumors was used for the detection of tumor‐associated mRNA expression in lavage supernatant and serum. mRNA coding for β‐actin could be isolated from lavage supernatant of all 25 patients. In addition, the expression of at least one tumor‐associated gene was detectable in all patients. These results show that intact mRNA can be isolated from cell‐free lavage supernatant and that its quantity and quality are sufficient for the detection of tumor‐associated gene expression alterations. This may open new possibilities for the diagnosis of lung cancer.