title: Circulating DNA level is negatively associated with the long-term survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To quantify the circulating DNA in plasma from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to evaluate its prognostic value.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood samples were collected from 79 patients with HCC before operation, 20 patients with liver cirrhosis, and 20 healthy volunteers. Circulating DNA was extracted from plasma and quantified. The association between circulating DNA level and prognosis of HCC patients was evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the healthy volunteers (17.6 +/- 9.5 ng/mL), a significant higher circulating DNA level was found in the patients with HCC (47.1 +/- 43.7 ng/mL, P = 0.000) or with liver cirrhosis (30.0 +/- 13.3 ng/mL, P = 0.002). The circulating DNA level was closely associated with tumor size (P = 0.008) and TNM stage (P = 0.040), negatively associated with the 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.017) and overall survival (OS) (P = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Large or invasive tumor may release more circulating DNA, and higher level of circulating DNA may be associated with poor prognosis of HCC patients.
authors.affiliation: Liver Cancer Institute and Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Qing-Hai
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Lun-Xiu
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Bo-Heng
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yin-Kun
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhao-You
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm