J Cancer 2016; 7(4):477-483. doi:10.7150/jca.13870 This issue Cite
Research Paper
1. Department of Biophysics and Structural Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China;
2. Clinical Lab Diagnosis, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China;
3. Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China;
4. Department of Clinical Laboratory, Heze Municipal Hospital, Heze, China.
Background: To screen biomarkers to differentiate early-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) from benign colorectal disease (BCD) and healthy controls.
Materials & Methods: Quantitative and qualitative analysis of C16:1, C18:3, C18:2, C18:1, C20:4, and C22:6 in 185 healthy controls, 55 patients with BCD, and 139 patients with CRC was performed. Comparisons of their levels in between CRC patients, BCD patients, and healthy controls were performed using Mann-Whitney U test.
Results: Serum levels of C16:1, C18:3, C18:2, C18:1, C20:4, and C22:6 in CRC patients were significantly decreased compared with healthy controls and BCD patients. A combination of C16:1, C18:2, C20:4, and C22:6 has excellent diagnostic performance to differentiate early-stage CRC patients from healthy controls plus BCD patients, with an AUC of 0.926, a sensitivity of 84.6%, and a specificity of 89.8%.
Conclusions: Serum levels of C16:1, C18:2, C20:4, and C22:6 could be diagnostic indicators of early-stage CRC patients.
Keywords: unsaturated free fatty acids, biomarker panel, early detection, serum, colorectal cancer.