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Published on: March 17, 2023
Clinical significance of serum mitochondrial DNA in lung cancer
Yu-Lei Hou1, Juan-Juan Chen, Yan-Feng Wu
1Clinical Laboratories, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China.
Objectives:
The aim of the study was to investigate the clinical significance of serum mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in lung cancer.
Design And Methods:
Serum mtDNA from 65 lung cancer patients, 20 patients with benign lung diseases and 55 healthy individuals was quantified using real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR). Data were analyzed using statistical software SPSS 13.0.
Results:
Serum mtDNA levels in lung cancer patients were significantly higher, compared to those in patients with benign lung diseases and healthy individuals (u=108, p=0.000; u=293, p=0.000), and closely associated with TNM stage (p=0.01). The use of serum mtDNA facilitated detection of lung cancer at a cutoff value of 0.74×10⁴ copies/μL with a sensitivity of 86.2% and specificity of 80.7%. However, serum mtDNA levels were not associated with patient age, gender, histological type, and lymph node metastasis (p>0.05).
Conclusions:
Quantification of serum mtDNA using FQ-PCR potentially serves as a novel complementary tool to improve the clinical screening and detection of lung cancer.
