Methods for detecting nucleic acids indicative of cancer

摘要

The invention provides methods for screening tissue or body fluid samples for nucleic acid indicia of cancer or precancer. Method are provided for screening a patient for cancer or precancer by detecting the presence of nucleic acid fragments that are longer than nucleic acid fragments expected to be present in a sample obtained from a healthy individual. In one embodiment, a positive screen for cancer or precancer is identified when a patient tissue or body fluid sample comprising exfoliated cells or cellular debris contains an amount of nucleic acid of a length greater than about 200 base pairs that exceeds a predetermined amount.