Abstract 1050: Non-invasive detection of circulating mRNA markers in diseases of the colon and rectum

Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a worldwide health burden with nearly 1.2 million new cases expected each year globally. When CRC is identified early, there is a five-year survival rate of about 90% but it drops to near 12% once there are distant metastases. Early detection of colorectal adenoma is warranted as it represents the precancerous lesion of CRC. The removal of colorectal adenoma can effectively prevent the subsequent development of CRC. The only preventive strategy is to undergo appropriate endoscopic surveillance and early detection of adenoma or CRC In this study, we focused on the transcriptome profile in patients with colon adenomas, incident colorectal cancer (CRC) and in the healthy population. MRNA transcripts were, in addition to tissues, isolated from the plasma and stool. Plasma and stool analyses should reveal potential mRNA signatures capable of non-invasive determination of the average individual risk of predisposition to adenomas or CRCs. Relevant plasma/stool mRNA will be further validated in another group of individuals with similar clinical characteristics and analyzed in relation to diet and lifestyle factors. For patients with CRC, plasma and stool specimens are collected repeatedly to reveal whether the transcripts identified by us will decrease or diminish in CRC patients after successful surgery. We hypothesize that altered mRNA signatures in plasma and stool may serve as a robust, powerful non-invasive and sufficiently sensitive tool in the early detection of adenomas or CRCs. The bioinformatic analysis is currently running and the results will be presented during the meeting. The long-term significance of the project lays on improvement of the therapy efficacy in colon cancer patients. Supported by grant GACR 22-05942S and by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, grant nr. NU22J-03-00033. Citation Format: Veronika Vymetalkova, Anna Siskova, Pavel Vodicka, Jiri Jungwirth, Jan Bruha. Non-invasive detection of circulating mRNA markers in diseases of the colon and rectum [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 1050.