Comparison of methods for circulating cell-free DNA isolation using blood from cancer patients. Impact on biomarker testing

Background

The implementation of liquid biopsy for biomarker testing and response to treatment monitoring requires the development of automated methods for circulating free DNA (cfDNA) isolation. Nevertheless, the extraction stage is critical to ensure reliable results.

Methods

The present study compares the MagNA Pure Compact Nucleic Acid Isolation (MPC) Kit I and Maxwell® RSC ccfDNA Plasma Kit (MR) and the later with QIAamp Circulating Nucleid Acid (QCNA) kit using 57 serum samples from cancer patients treated at the Medical Oncology Department at Puerta de Hierro Teaching Hospital in Madrid, Spain.

Results

Firstly, we observed that MPC method significantly extracted less cfDNA than MR (P 

Conclusions

Methods for isolation of cfDNA can affect DNA yield and molecular weight fractions recovery. These observations should be taken into account for cfDNA analysis in routine clinical practice in cancer patients.

Clinical trial identification

Legal entity responsible for the study

Hospital Puerta de Hierro Mjadahonda

Funding

Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Disclosure

All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.