Assessing blood platelets as RNA biomarker source for prostate cancer

Abstract

Context: Blood platelets may offer as RNA biomarker source for cancer as recently described for an oncogenic transcript in glioma patients and for PCA3 in prostate cancer (PCa) patients.

Objective: Here, we elaborated on this aspect for PCa.

Materials and methods: PCA3 and other PCa-associated RNA markers were measured in platelets of PCa patients (cases) and healthy subjects (controls) in comparison to PCa cell lines by relative quantitative RT-PCR.

Results: The RNA markers displayed heterogeneous expression patterns in cell lines and platelets, however, without significant differences between cases and controls.

Discussion and conclusion: The data do not support platelets as a profitable RNA source for early detection of PCa. Nonetheless, certain PCa-derived RNA markers in platelets may merit further investigation as potential prognostic biomarkers for PCa.

Keywords:

• Biomaterial
• PCA3
• thrombocyte

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Susanne Lingelbach for excellent technical assistance. The authors also thank the study participants for their contributions to make this study possible. The study was supported by the “Alfred and Ursula Kulemann Foundation”.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no declarations of interest.