Assessing blood platelets as RNA biomarker source for prostate cancer

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.