Genetic Biomarkers in Feces Predict Colon Cancer

Biomarkers that predicted inflammation-associated colon cancer were found in mouse feces. This is the same type of cancer associated with some common human inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's Disease.

Scientists found that the bacterium that leads to inflammation-associated colon cancer in mice first results in inflammation that can be detected by screening feces for messenger RNA of genes.

Craig Franklin, associate professor of veterinary pathobiology in the University of Missouri (MU) College of Veterinary Medicine (Columbia, MO, USA), believes that this discovery could lead to tests for similar genes present in humans with early inflammation-associated colon cancer. The study was published in the December 2010 edition of the journal Neoplasia.

"The assumption was that the gene expression couldn't be detected in fecal matter because RNA breaks down very rapidly. Historically, this was something that a lot of scientists, including us, hadn't considered," Prof. Franklin said. "But technology has evolved, and we now have the means of preserving RNA much better than we did 15 years ago."

The new testing method should decrease the number of animals needed for research and could lead to a test for humans that will replace colonoscopies.

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University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine