Publisher's Synopsis
Free DNA present in both healthy and diseased human plasma has been found to express specific point mutations that may serve as diagnostic signposts - perhaps to reliable, non-invasive tests for breast and lung cancer, haematopoetic malignancies, colorectal or pancreatic carcinoma, and other tumours. In another research area, foetal DNA has been detected in maternal serum which presents an early-horizon alternative in utero test for gender. A parallel discovery of rearranged immunoglobin heavy-chain DNA in the plasma of patients wit Hodgkin's disease or acute B cell leukaemia has also emerged. These fast-emerging indicators suggest that it is time to standardize research techniques and develop protocols that can take a measure of circulating DNA's usefulness as a diagnostic tool. This volume, taken from the proceedings of a conference in August 1999, discusses such issues.
