Association of the immediate perioperative dynamics of circulating DNA levels and neutrophil extracellular traps formation in cancer patients

Elevated circulating DNA (cirDNA) concentrations were found to be associated with trauma or tissue damage which suggests involvement of inflammation or cell death in post-operative cirDNA release. We carried out the first prospective, multicenter study of the dynamics of cirDNA and neutrophil extracellular trap (NETs) markers during the perioperative period from 24 h before surgery up to 72 h after curative surgery in cancer patients. We examined the plasma levels of two NETs protein markers [myeloperoxidase (MPO) and neutrophil elastase (NE)], as well as levels of cirDNA of nuclear (cir-nDNA) and mitochondrial (cir-mtDNA) origin in 29 colon, prostate, and breast cancer patients and in 114 healthy individuals (HI). The synergistic analytical information provided by these markers revealed that: (i) NETs formation contributes to post-surgery conditions; (ii) post-surgery cir-nDNA levels were highly associated with NE and MPO in colon cancer [ = 0.60 (