Colorectal and lung cancer biomarker studies
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Discovery and validation of biomarkers in colorectal and lung cancer- nested case-control studies using multiple technologies
IRAS ID
130021
Contact name
Usha Menon
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCL
Research summary
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the UK. Although prognosis is generally poor, earlier detection allows treatment by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Colorectal (bowel) cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK and while 5 year survival rates if the disease is detected are 75%, once the cancer has metastasized survival rates decrease to only 5%. It is well accepted that early diagnosis of cancer can improve survival, thus there is a great need to identify novel biomarkers for lung and colorectal cancer diagnostics at the earliest possible stage.
It has been found that tumours can stimulate the production of autoantibodies against cellular proteins known as tumour auto-antibodies (TAAs). These autoantibodies are able to be detected months or years before the clinical diagnosis of cancer and therefore show promise as biomarkers for early diagnosis of cancer. The Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) have considerable experience and expertise in TAA technology and have already discovered and patented TAA markers for colorectal and lung cancer using samples at time of diagnosis. In collaboration with AIT we are aiming to validate these novel TAA biomarkers for early detection of colorectal and lung cancer using pre-diagnosis serum samples from the UKCTOCS trial in nested case-control studies.
Many recent reports describe both exosomal microRNA and methylated DNA as potential biomarkers for the early detection of cancer and they have recently been studied extensively as cancer diagnostics. MicroRNAs have been found to be abnormally expressed in several types of cancer. Similarly alterations in DNA methylation are common in a variety of tumours as well as in development. We will therefore investigate whether methylated DNA and exosomal microRNA arising from tumour cells can be measured in colorectal and lung cancer serum. In collaboration with three groups with expertise in the areas of DNA methylation and exosomes, serum from pre-diagnosis samples from the UKCTOCS trial will be tested in colorectal and lung cases using DNA methylation and microRNA technology platforms.
REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/EM/0283
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jul 2013
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion