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The researchers were able to discover a blood-based screening test that could potentially lead to non-invasive screening techniques for colon cancer. The discovery has shown promising prospects for better patient adherence and prevention of over treatment of the disease due to complex diagnostic processes. ( pixabay )
A blood-based screening method could pave the way for colon cancer to have more effective diagnostic standards. In a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, researchers discovered four blood markers linked to precancerous conditions of colon cancer, which could eventually lead to the disease.
Current colon cancer screening practices generally result in low rates of compliance and overdiagnosis. The disease is highly curable if detected early. With this, people may think that screening should be fairly simple, but that is not the case.
The ultimate goal of the study is to develop a blood test that can detect colon cancer.
"This study is the first insight into the possibility of having blood markers for a minimally invasive procedure that can reduce overdiagnosis," says Bill Dove, lead author and professor of oncology and genetics at the McArdle Laboratory for Research. Carbon Cancer Center at UW-Madison. "They exist."
Screening for colon cancer at the present time
The best practice for the diagnosis of colon cancer is to perform an optical colonoscopy. The procedure requires that patients empty their gut before undergoing the invasive diagnostic test. The complexity involved also contributes to low compliance rates. During the procedure, the doctor monitors the polyps, which in turn will be returned to the laboratory for badysis.
Another option for colon cancer screening is currently computed tomography. This requires the same intestinal preparation, but the procedure itself is not invasive. Doctors may prescribe colonoscopy and removal of polyps after a CT scan if necessary.
Breakthrough technique
For the new study, the research team found that most of the small polyps detected during testing would never become cancerous, rendering their treatment useless.
The authors looked for elevated proteins in the blood of cancer patients, but not elevated in patients whose polyps do not grow or those who do not have any at all.
The researchers studied blood samples from 90 patients undergoing optical colonoscopy. They divided it into groups of precancerous polyps without risk or high risk and 31 CT scans of patients who were studied but who were not eliminated.
The next step was to select 19 proteins with a high rodent sample content. They then performed mbad spectrometry, which calculates the protein concentration in the blood.
Finally, the researchers correlated the blood markers with the results of the colonoscopy. They were able to identify markers particularly related to cancerous polyps.
Lead author, Melanie Ivancic, said the study's findings had revealed four high-protein early colon cancer-related proteins.
Dove said he was considering a blood test to supplement other colon cancer screening techniques.
The study was published on April 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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