Biomarker may indicate colon cancer spread

HANGZHOU, China, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Scientists in China have discovered two blood proteins that may help predict whether colon cancer will spread.

Maode Lai and colleagues at the School of Medicine at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, said the proteins, present in the blood of people with colon cancer, may serve as the potential biomarkers for accurately predicting whether the disease will spread.

Half of colon cancer patients undergoing surgery develop a recurrence of the disease within five years due to its spread, or metastasis, to other parts of the body. The spread of colon cancer can be difficult to detect and there are currently no reliable chemical markers in the body for predicting its spread, the scientists explained.

The scientists compared proteins produced by primary, or original, tumor cells to those of metastasized cells came from a single individual with colon cancer.

They identified two proteins that occurred at significantly higher levels in the metastatic cells than in the primary cancer cells. The two proteins could serve as potential biomarkers in a blood test for predicting the spread of colon cancer, allowing earlier intervention and treatment, the scientists said.