Cargando…

Biomarkers for detecting colorectal cancer non-invasively: DNA, RNA or proteins?

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a global problem affecting millions of people worldwide. This disease is unique because of its slow progress that makes it preventable and often curable. CRC symptoms usually emerge only at advanced stages of the disease, consequently its early detection can be achieved on...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Loktionov, Alexandre
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Baishideng Publishing Group Inc 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7031146/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32104546
http://dx.doi.org/10.4251/wjgo.v12.i2.124
_version_ 1783499312468066304
author Loktionov, Alexandre
author_facet Loktionov, Alexandre
author_sort Loktionov, Alexandre
collection PubMed
description Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a global problem affecting millions of people worldwide. This disease is unique because of its slow progress that makes it preventable and often curable. CRC symptoms usually emerge only at advanced stages of the disease, consequently its early detection can be achieved only through active population screening, which markedly reduces mortality due to this cancer. CRC screening tests that employ non-invasively detectable biomarkers are currently being actively developed and, in most cases, samples of either stool or blood are used. However, alternative biological substances that can be collected non-invasively (colorectal mucus, urine, saliva, exhaled air) have now emerged as new sources of diagnostic biomarkers. The main categories of currently explored CRC biomarkers are: (1) Proteins (comprising widely used haemoglobin); (2) DNA (including mutations and methylation markers); (3) RNA (in particular microRNAs); (4) Low molecular weight metabolites (comprising volatile organic compounds) detectable by metabolomic techniques; and (5) Shifts in gut microbiome composition. Numerous tests for early CRC detection employing such non-invasive biomarkers have been proposed and clinically studied. While some of these studies generated promising early results, very few of the proposed tests have been transformed into clinically validated diagnostic/screening techniques. Such DNA-based tests as Food and Drug Administration-approved multitarget stool test (marketed as Cologuard(®)) or blood test for methylated septin 9 (marketed as Epi proColon(®) 2.0 CE) show good diagnostic performance but remain too expensive and technically complex to become effective CRC screening tools. It can be concluded that, despite its deficiencies, the protein (haemoglobin) detection-based faecal immunochemical test (FIT) today presents the most cost-effective option for non-invasive CRC screening. The combination of non-invasive FIT and confirmatory invasive colonoscopy is the current strategy of choice for CRC screening. However, continuing intense research in the area promises the emergence of new superior non-invasive CRC screening tests that will allow the development of improved disease prevention strategies.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7031146
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher Baishideng Publishing Group Inc
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-70311462020-02-26 Biomarkers for detecting colorectal cancer non-invasively: DNA, RNA or proteins? Loktionov, Alexandre World J Gastrointest Oncol Review Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a global problem affecting millions of people worldwide. This disease is unique because of its slow progress that makes it preventable and often curable. CRC symptoms usually emerge only at advanced stages of the disease, consequently its early detection can be achieved only through active population screening, which markedly reduces mortality due to this cancer. CRC screening tests that employ non-invasively detectable biomarkers are currently being actively developed and, in most cases, samples of either stool or blood are used. However, alternative biological substances that can be collected non-invasively (colorectal mucus, urine, saliva, exhaled air) have now emerged as new sources of diagnostic biomarkers. The main categories of currently explored CRC biomarkers are: (1) Proteins (comprising widely used haemoglobin); (2) DNA (including mutations and methylation markers); (3) RNA (in particular microRNAs); (4) Low molecular weight metabolites (comprising volatile organic compounds) detectable by metabolomic techniques; and (5) Shifts in gut microbiome composition. Numerous tests for early CRC detection employing such non-invasive biomarkers have been proposed and clinically studied. While some of these studies generated promising early results, very few of the proposed tests have been transformed into clinically validated diagnostic/screening techniques. Such DNA-based tests as Food and Drug Administration-approved multitarget stool test (marketed as Cologuard(®)) or blood test for methylated septin 9 (marketed as Epi proColon(®) 2.0 CE) show good diagnostic performance but remain too expensive and technically complex to become effective CRC screening tools. It can be concluded that, despite its deficiencies, the protein (haemoglobin) detection-based faecal immunochemical test (FIT) today presents the most cost-effective option for non-invasive CRC screening. The combination of non-invasive FIT and confirmatory invasive colonoscopy is the current strategy of choice for CRC screening. However, continuing intense research in the area promises the emergence of new superior non-invasive CRC screening tests that will allow the development of improved disease prevention strategies. Baishideng Publishing Group Inc 2020-02-15 2020-02-15 /pmc/articles/PMC7031146/ /pubmed/32104546 http://dx.doi.org/10.4251/wjgo.v12.i2.124 Text en ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial.
spellingShingle Review
Loktionov, Alexandre
Biomarkers for detecting colorectal cancer non-invasively: DNA, RNA or proteins?
title Biomarkers for detecting colorectal cancer non-invasively: DNA, RNA or proteins?
title_full Biomarkers for detecting colorectal cancer non-invasively: DNA, RNA or proteins?
title_fullStr Biomarkers for detecting colorectal cancer non-invasively: DNA, RNA or proteins?
title_full_unstemmed Biomarkers for detecting colorectal cancer non-invasively: DNA, RNA or proteins?
title_short Biomarkers for detecting colorectal cancer non-invasively: DNA, RNA or proteins?
title_sort biomarkers for detecting colorectal cancer non-invasively: dna, rna or proteins?
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7031146/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32104546
http://dx.doi.org/10.4251/wjgo.v12.i2.124
work_keys_str_mv AT loktionovalexandre biomarkersfordetectingcolorectalcancernoninvasivelydnarnaorproteins