Russian researchers develop new method to improve diagnosis of colorectal cancer

Russian researchers have developed a new method that could improve diagnosis of colorectal cancer or what is commonly known as bowel cancer.

Colorectal cancer, which is the third most common type of cancer, develops with minimal clinical symptoms in the early stages. Despite the efforts of doctors, the five-year survival rate does not exceed 36 per cent.

Effective treatment can be given to patients only when it is detected early, when they also have a good chance of recovery. Diagnostic methods that are in use are not sufficient and analyses carried out in vitro had low specificity.

Invasive studies such as colonoscopy are not only traumatic; they are also not always suitable for an early diagnosis, as they failed to provide a complete picture of the development and distribution of colorectal cancer. The new method proposed by the scientists is based on simultaneous detection of various substances in patients' blood.

These substances are autoantibodies against tumour-associated biological molecules called glycans, which could be found in serum at the early stages of cancer. Tumour cells had special glycans that allowed scientists to differentiate them from healthy cells, and this formed the key aspect of the new study.

The Russian scientists' method developed at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology (EIMB RAS) and colleagues is based on the simultaneous detection of various substances in patients' blood.

These substances are autoantibodies against tumour-associated glycans, which could be found in serum at the early stages of cancer, immunoglobulins of different classes, and oncomarkers (molecules produced by tumour cells. Oncomarkers are already in use to detect cancer.

Scientists developed microchips consisting of 3D cells made of a special gel containing the required reagents - molecular probes. The structure of the gel provided an optimal environment for conducting tests, and the scientists were able to solve a number of problems to ensure more accurate diagnoses.

In analyses of the sera of 33 patients with colorectal cancer, 69 healthy donors and 27 patients with inflammatory bowel disease, researchers were able to diagnose CRC in 95 per cent of cases, as against 79 per cent detected by traditional methods.