Millions of people globally are affected by Colorectal Cancer (CRC). This common disease of the digestive system is associated with alcohol intake, smoking, increased body weight, certain dietary habits, inflammatory bowel disease, the male sex, diabetes, and ethnicity risk factors.
It is preventable and often curable because of its slow progression. Survival rates are high – as much as 90%, but this comes down to what stage CRC is at diagnosis.
At the very early stage of cancer, aberrant DNA methylation can occur, meaning useful biomarkers can be found by distinguishing the methylation patterns difference between malignant and normal samples.
So far, several DNA methylation biomarkers have been identified, including SDC2 and TFP12, which are complementary when detecting CRC.
Read the original publication of this study here: [SDC2 and TFPI2 Methylation in Stool Samples as an Integrated Biomarker for Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer]
This research was aimed at probing the role and efficiency of the methylation status of SDC2 and TFPI2 in CRC early screening by using bioinformatics analysis and clinical stool sample validation.
SDC2 and TFPI2 Methylation in Stool Samples as an Integrated Biomarker for Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer
UALCAN was used to analyze the promoter methylation levels of TFPI2 and SDC2 across normal and CRC tissues. Researchers also looked at these levels in different tumor subsets based on gender, tumor grade, other clinicopathological characteristics, and cancer stages.
MethSurv and Wanderer were also used to explore CpG sites for SDC2 and TFPI2 further.
UCSC Xena and LinkedOmics provided further information to perform survival analyses and functional network analysis, respectively.
Stool samples were analyzed at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, collected from 61 CRC patients, 53 health people (no CRC detected), 37 gastric cancer patients, and 13 people with other tumors of the stomach.
To quantitatively detect methylation levels of SDC2 and TFPI2, qMSP was performed.
The results showed that promoter and most CpG site methylation levels of SDC2 and TFPI2 were significantly higher in CRC than in normal tissues.
SDC2 and TFPI2 methylation also showed a positive correlation. Functional network analysis suggested that both methylated SDC2 and TFPI2 were involved in tumor cells’ metabolic programs.
Additionally, there was a higher positive integrated detection rate in CRC (n=61) with a sensitivity of 93.4% and in adenoma (Ade) (n=16) with a sensitivity of 81.3% higher than usual with a specificity of 94.3% in stool samples.
Furthermore, integration of methylated SDC2 and TFPI2 showed higher sensitivity and Youden index than a single gene in detecting Adeor CRC.
Takeaways:
- The data indicate that SDC2 and TFPI2 were hypermethylated in colorectal cancer.
- Integrated detection of these methylated CpG locations has the potential to be an effective and non-invasive tool of CRC early screening.
You can read the original publication of this study here: [ SDC2 and TFPI2 Methylation in Stool Samples as an Integrated Biomarker for Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer ]
