Gastroenterology: Liquid biopsy characterization for the detection of early-onset colorectal cancer patients

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has the third highest incidence of all cancers and remains the third leading cause
of cancer-related death worldwide.
Global morbidity and associated mortality from sporadic CRC have declined
in recent years.
These improvements are likely due to increased CRC screening, timely detection and removal of
precancerous lesions and early cancers.
Unfortunately, data from epidemiological studies show a clear upward trend in the incidence of CRC in people under 50 years of age, who do not have any familial or genetic predisposition
.
The disease, known as early-onset CRC (EOCRC), currently accounts for 10-15%
of all new CRC diagnoses.
At the current rate, it is estimated that the incidence of EOCRC could double
by 2030.
Although the reasons for this trend in younger populations are unknown, it is generally accepted that EOCRC patients are not the same epidemiologically
, biologically, and pathologically as patients with late-onset colorectal cancer (LOCRC≥ 50 years of age).
Therefore, in order to further characterize EOCRC, these patients must be explored, evaluated, and clinically managed to distinguish them from patients
with LOCRC.

To this end, the researchers developed a systematic discovery method by analyzing a large publicly available non-coding RNA expression profiling dataset (GSE115513), identifying a group of miRNAs that differed in EOCRC patients and LOCRC, which was subsequently validated in blood samples from EOCRC patients in 2 independent cohorts (n=149) and compared with a control group (n=110) and preoperative/postoperative plasma samples (n= 22) made a comparison
.

The results of the study found that during the statistical phase, 4 miRNAs were found to be expressed
in blood samples.
The combined features of these four miRNAs (miR-193a-5p, miR-210, miR-513a-5p, and miR-628–3p) yield an area of 0.
92 (95% confidence interval, 0.
85–0.
96) under the curve that can be used to identify EOCRCs
in the training cohort.
The miRNA was then confirmed in an independent validation cohort (area under the curve, 0.
88; 95% confidence interval, 0.
82–0.
93).

In addition, the miRNA panel reliably identified patients with early EOCRC (P<.
001>

This study confirms that a predictive model using novel miRNAs can be used to diagnose EOCRC and improve the accuracy to identify EOCRC patients for clinical applications
in non-invasive diagnosis of EOCRC.

Original source:

Kota Nakamur.
et al.
A Liquid Biopsy Signature for the Detection of Patients With Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer.
Gastroenterology.
2022.