Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Cancer Invasion, Ministry of Education, Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, China.
NHC Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis (Central South University), Cancer Research Institute and School of Basic Medicine, Central South University, 110 Xiangya Road, Changsha, 410078, Hunan, China.
Mol Cancer. 2019 Mar 9;18(1):36. doi: 10.1186/s12943-019-0989-z.
Peripheral circulating free DNA (cfDNA) is DNA that is detected in plasma or serum fluid with a cell-free status. For cancer patients, cfDNA not only originates from apoptotic cells but also from necrotic tumor cells and disseminated tumor cells that have escaped into the blood during epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Additionally, cfDNA derived from tumors, also known as circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), carries tumor-associated genetic and epigenetic changes in cancer patients, which makes ctDNA a potential biomarker for the early diagnosis of tumors, monitory and therapeutic evaluations, and prognostic assessments, among others, for various kinds of cancer. Moreover, analyses of cfDNA chromatin modifications can reflect the heterogeneity of tumors and have potential for predicting tumor drug resistance.
外周血循环游离 DNA（cfDNA）是指在血浆或血清等无细胞状态下检测到的 DNA。对于癌症患者而言，cfDNA 不仅来源于凋亡细胞，还来源于坏死的肿瘤细胞和在上皮-间充质转化过程中逸入血液的播散性肿瘤细胞。此外，来源于肿瘤的 cfDNA，也称为循环肿瘤 DNA（ctDNA），携带有癌症患者的肿瘤相关遗传和表观遗传改变，这使得 ctDNA 成为肿瘤早期诊断、监测和治疗评估以及预后评估等各种癌症的潜在生物标志物。此外，cfDNA 染色质修饰的分析可以反映肿瘤的异质性，并具有预测肿瘤药物耐药性的潜力。
