Quick assessment of cell-free DNA in seminal fluid and fragment size for early non-invasive prostate cancer diagnosis.

•Liquid biopsy consists in the quantification and qualification of circulating cell-free DNA and tumor-derived DNA.•The characterization of seminal cfDNA (scfDNA) is a potential biomarker for prostate cancer diagnosis.•Median cfDNA from PCa patients were significantly higher than those from BPH patients and healthy controls.•A higher concentration of long scfDNA fragments was observed in PCa patients in respect to BPH patients and healthy controls tumor•scfDNA can be adopted in early diagnosis of PCa and clinical surveillance, avoiding unnecessary biopsies.•Automated systems for cfDNA analysis could facilitate the implementation of liquid biopsy in the uro-oncological setting.