New Non-Invasive Blood Test for Colon Cancer Presented at 2021 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting

A new non-invasive test that uses blood samples to diagnose cases of colorectal cancer was presented at the 2021 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo.

The test developed by researchers at the Medical Research Institute (Alexandria, Egypt) could facilitate screening efforts for colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of death from cancer worldwide, and detecting the disease early is essential for a good prognosis. Although colonoscopies are the most effective tools for diagnosis, many patients avoid getting them due to their invasive nature. Other tests such as those for occult blood in stool are less invasive, but don’t have the same accuracy and performance, and can yield false positives that lead to unnecessary follow-up colonoscopies for patients.

The new non-invasive blood test may help identify cases of colorectal cancer and improve patient compliance with screening. Using multiplex bead technology, the researchers examined levels of the inflammatory proteins eotaxin-1, MIP-1 beta, G-CSF, VEGF-A, and Fas ligand in 35 patients with colorectal cancer and 52 individuals without cancer. The first four proteins were elevated in the cancer patients, suggesting these proteins could serve as potential biomarkers for future screening efforts. The researchers also found that the multiplex bead test outperformed routine stool occult blood tests.

“The main novel aspect of our study is the use of multiplex technology in simultaneous measuring of serum-based biomarkers in [colorectal cancer] diagnosis, which will reduce cost and time,” said Dr. Mona Eldeeb of the Medical Research Institute who led the team. “The overall performance of the studied serum biomarkers is much better than routinely used occult blood in screening [colorectal cancer].”

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Medical Research Institute