Blood and Urine Liquid Biopsy Detects Early Colorectal Cancer Mutations

Early-stage colorectal cancer is difficult to assess noninvasively because tumor-derived mutations occur at extremely low levels in blood and urine, straining the sensitivity, cost, and turnaround time of conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ultra-deep next-generation sequencing (NGS). Liquid biopsy enables minimally invasive, repeat testing suitable for early detection and recurrence monitoring. A team has now expanded a plasmonic microarray–based liquid biopsy to detect KRAS mutations in plasma and urine from Stage 0–I patients. New findings demonstrate over 90% concordance between liquid and tissue analyses.

Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS; Changwon, South Korea) has developed a plasmonic-based liquid biopsy platform for ultrasensitive detection of KRAS mutations in the blood and urine of patients with early-stage colorectal cancer. The platform enables noninvasive mutation analysis from multiple specimen types and is designed to address key analytical constraints in early disease. The work extends the group’s plasmonic microarray approach to a colorectal cancer biomarker while maintaining performance across different matrices.

The method combines mutation-selective amplification with plasmonic signal enhancement, enabling highly sensitive detection of rare KRAS mutant DNA against an excess background of wild-type DNA. By pairing selective amplification with optical signal gain, the platform targets mutations present at trace abundance that often elude routine assays. This approach is intended to mitigate the sensitivity, cost, and turnaround limitations associated with PCR and ultra‑deep NGS in early-stage settings.

In a translational feasibility assessment, the researchers analyzed matched tumor tissue, plasma, and urine from patients with Stage 0 and Stage I colorectal cancer. The platform achieved more than 90% concordance in KRAS mutation status across the three specimen types. The study demonstrates that accurate mutation analysis is feasible in early-stage patients using noninvasive specimens.

The findings are published in npj Precision Oncology. The KIMS team previously demonstrated plasmonic-based detection of EGFR mutations in the blood of lung cancer patients with high sensitivity and now extends the platform to KRAS in colorectal cancer, including urine-based testing.

According to the researchers, the integrated plasmonic nanomaterial and bio‑diagnostic framework could be expanded to additional cancers and biomarkers, with potential applications in early detection, companion diagnostics, treatment response assessment, minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring, and recurrence surveillance.

“This study demonstrates both the applicability of our plasmonic liquid biopsy platform to colorectal cancer and the feasibility of urine-based cancer mutation analysis. We plan to further develop the technology into a precision diagnostic platform applicable to a wide range of cancers for early diagnosis and recurrence monitoring,” said Minyoung Lee, senior researcher at Korea Institute of Materials Science.

“By integrating plasmonic materials with bio-diagnostic technologies, we will continue advancing next-generation precision diagnostic platforms,” added Sunggyu Park, principal researcher at KIMS and director of the Global TOP Strategic Research Center.

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Korea Institute of Materials Science