Colorectal Cancer : Aspects of Heredity, Prognosis and Tumour Markers

Abstract: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancer types and leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Since CRC is a heterogenic disease, there is a demand for increased knowledge of the underlying genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. The aim of this thesis was to investigate heredity and potential tumour markers in relation to prognosis. In paper I, survival of patients with CRC and a positive family history of CRC in first-degree relatives was analysed. Patients with colon cancer and positive family history of CRC had improved survival compared to patients with negative family history. This improvement in survival could not be explained by known clinico-pathological factors. In paper II, we investigated the prognostic value of Tryptophanyl t-RNA synthetase (TrpRS) in tissues from patients operated for CRC. Low protein expression of TrpRS in primary tumour tissues correlated with increased risk of recurrence and poorer survival. In paper III, the prognostic value of microsatellite instability (MSI) and the correlation to heredity for CRC in first-degree relatives was investigated. Patients with proximal colon cancer and MSI had improved cancer specific survival. There were no correlation between MSI and heredity. In paper IV, we evaluated the potential use of proximity ligation assay (SP-PLA) in patients with CRC, by simultaneous analysis of 35 proteins in only 5 μl plasma. SP-PLA is a suitable method for protein detection and might give valuable guidance in pursuing new prognostic and predictive tumour markers. However, none of the markers selected for present SP-PLA analyses gave better prognostic information than CEA. In conclusion, heredity is related to better survival independent of MSI in patients with CRC and MSI is associated with better prognosis in proximal colon cancer. Detection and increased knowledge of molecular mechanism in CRC is important, however it needs to be further investigated and validated in clinical use.