title: The study of a patient's immune system may prove to be a useful noninvasive tool for stage classification in colon cancer.
abstract: Therapy, and, therefore, prognosis, is strictly related to cancer stage, and hence, screening tests that can contribute to the early classification of disease stage represent a step forward in treatment. Unfortunately, few prognostic indices are available, especially noninvasive ones. Our study of the physiological network of the immune response, however, leads us to believe that it may well be possible to define immunological indices for the classification of cancer stage using blood parameters. In this paper, we show how the study of a patient's immune system can be used as a noninvasive tool for early-stage classification.
authors.affiliation: CNR Institute of Organ Transplantation and Immunocytology (ITOI), L'Aquila, Italy. p.pellegrini@itoi.cnr.it
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pellegrini
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Berghella
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Contasta
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Del Beato
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Adorno
mesh_terms: D017252:CD3 Complex / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D007378:Interleukins / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D020781:Matrix Metalloproteinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D019715:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D017252:CD3 Complex; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D007378:Interleukins; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen; D019715:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1; D020781:Matrix Metalloproteinase 1