title: Minimally invasive biomarkers for detection and staging of colorectal cancer.
abstract: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer, with approximately one million cases estimated world wide in 2006, resulting in more than 500,000 deaths. Approximately 40% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed with localized disease, which have approximately a 90% five-year survival rate. However, the prognosis worsens with advancing stage, and only 5% of patients diagnosed with distant metastases survive 5 years. Therefore, the need for early detection is clear. Currently, guaiac-based fecal-occult blood testing (gFOBT) in large population-based trials has been shown to reduce CRC-related mortality, but the sensitivity for detecting early disease is low. DNA-based fecal screening appears to have the potential to significantly increase sensitivity without decreasing specificity. This review will focus primarily on newer molecular-based biomarkers and their utility in screening large populations for CRC, predicting treatment efficacy and providing prognostic information related to survival and disease progression.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biochemistry, The Ottawa Hospital and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Ottawa, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1H 8L6. rbooth@ottawahospital.on.ca
authors.forename: Ronald A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Booth
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009780:Occult Blood
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor