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Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is leading cause of cancer related death and the survival rate for patients with NSCLC remain poor so early diagnosis of NSCLC represents the best opportunity for cure. Cell-free DNA (cf-DNA) is extracellular nucleic acids found in cell-free plasma/serum of humans, given the recent approval of a liquid biopsy in lung cancer, the use of circulating tumor DNA as a novel non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarker is promising. Objectives: Studying whether the concentrations of circulating Cell Free DNA in serum can be used as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for NSCLC patients. Method: This study was carried out on 140 subjects included 60 patients with non small cell lung cancer,40 patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and 40 healthy controls. Quantitative analysis of serum circulating cf-DNA was done b y AlU-based quantitative real time PCR. Serum level of CEA was measured by ELISA. Results: NSCLC patients demonstrated significantly higher values of each of ALU 215, ALU 247, and DNA integrity than both COPD patients and controls. On ROC curve analysis, the total accuracy of ALU 247, ALU 115, DNA integrity (92.1%, 83.6%, 56.4%) at cutoff points (325, 565 & 0.48) respectively. On combining both DNA integrity and CEA, improved sensitivity to 93.3% was noted. For NSCLC patients, ALU 115 & ALU 247 increased significantly with more advanced stage and highest level was noticed in metastatic patients. Regarding survival there was better overall survival among patients with low DNA integrity. Conclusion: Serum cf-DNA concentrations and integrity index may be valuable tool in early diagnosis of NSCLC and prediction of prognosis of those patients. Keywords: NSCLC, Cf-DNA, Integrity index and RT-PCR

Background/Aim: There is no doubt that colorectal cancer (CRC) poses a major threat to public health worldwide, and despite improvement in managements, prognosis still remains an irritating question with no definite answer. Being a fundamental player in cancer metabolism, glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) could be utilized as a prognostic biomarker that could fuel development of new treatment strategies. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of GLUT1 expression as a prognostic biomarker and to elucidate to what extent it is immersed in poor clinical outcome among CRC patients. Patients and Methods: GLUT1 expression in peripheral blood specimens was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in 47 CRC patients and 20 healthy controls. Results: There was significantly elevated GLUT1 expression in peripheral blood of CRC patients than in controls (P < 0.001). The cutoff value of 0.605 provided 98% sensitivity and 100% specificity. There were significantly higher values of GLUT1 expression in patients under 50 years (P = 0.003), performance status 2 (P = 0.009), stage IV (P < 0.001), and presence of metastasis (P < 0.001). GLUT1 expression showed nonsignificant association with overall survival (P = 0.068), while tumor stage (P = 0.01) and metastasis (P = 0.009) were significantly associated with lower overall survival. Conclusion: GLUT1 is sensitive and specific marker for CRC. It is overexpressed in young age patients, poor performance status, and stage IV patients. Although this was not statistically significant, GLUT 1 showed higher expression level in patients with lesser survival.

Sucess in breast cancer treatment is not built only on diversity but on clinical relevance to tumor pathogenesis. So, gathering of many prognositic biomarkers involved in cancer progression could yield new treatment modalities in order to maitain good quality of life for patients .The receptor for advanced glycation end product (RAGE) and its ligand the high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein seem to play a role in many cancers, their cross-talk affects breast cancer behaviour. The aim of this study was to investigate the tissue RAGE and HMGB1 expression levels and their association with clinicopathological features and overall survival in breast cancer patients. Tissue RAGE and HMGB1 mRNA levels were measured by real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results showed tissue RAGE and HMGB1 displayed significant higher expression levels compared to benign group. RAGE and HMGB1 expression levels in breast cancer tissues were significantly associated with high tumour grade, lymph node metastasis, stage III wih no significant relation to the molecular type of tumor nor overall survival. RAGE-HMGB1 system seems to be linked to breast cancer which may represent a prognostic biomarker of clinical and theraputic significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]