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Review
. 2020 Jun 22:12:4789-4797.
doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S253369. eCollection 2020.

Biochemical Markers of Colorectal Cancer - Present and Future

Wojciech Jelski  1 , Barbara Mroczko  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Biochemical Markers of Colorectal Cancer - Present and Future

Wojciech Jelski et al. Cancer Manag Res. .

Abstract

According to a report by the National Cancer Institute, colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide. CRC is often recognized too late for successful therapy. Tumor markers have been sought for a number of years to detect the transformation of malignant cells at the earliest possible stage. They are usually proteins associated with a malignancy and might be clinically useful in patients with cancer. Several classical markers have been used to recognize colorectal cancer, including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen (CA 19.9), tissue polypeptide specific antigen (TPS) and tumor-associated glycoprotein-72 (TAG-72). None of these tests, however, have excellent diagnostic accuracy. Recent studies have been conducted on the use of hematopoietic growth factors (HGFs) and various enzymes in the diagnosis and prognosis of colorectal cancer. These include macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) and granulocyte-macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin-3, interleukin-6 and enzymes (alcohol dehydrogenase and lysosomal exoglycosidases). Significantly, most cancer deaths are not caused by the primary tumor itself but by its spread. Analysis of circulating cancer cells (CTCs), ie, factors responsible for metastasis, may be a source of information useful in the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer. Currently available markers have significant limitations.

Keywords: colorectal cancer; tumor markers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Wojciech Jelski has received consultation honoraria from Wiener Lab and Abbott. Barbara Mroczko has received consultation honoraria from Wiener Lab, Roche, Cormay, Abbott and Biameditek. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Division of colorectal cancer markers.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The role of hematopoietic growth factors and their receptors in tumor development.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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