Detection of Hypermethylated Spastic Paraplegia-20 in Stool Samples of Patients with Colorectal Cancer

• Main Author: Hao Zhang, Yong-Chun Song, Cheng-Xue Dang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ivyspring International Publisher 2013-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Medical Sciences
• Online Access: http://www.medsci.org/v10p0230.htm

<p><b>Background</b>. Analysis of aberrant hypermethylation in stool DNA might provide a novel strategy for noninvasive detection of colorectal cancer.</p><p><b>Aims</b>. To explore the feasibility of detecting hypermethylation in Spastic paraplegia-20 promoter as a stool-based DNA marker for detection of colorectal cancer.</p><p><b>Methods</b>. We collected 96 tissue and stool samples from patients with colorectal cancer and 30 stool samples healthy individuals.</p><p><b>Results</b>. Hypermethylated Spastic paraplegia-20 occurs in 85.4% (82/96) of patients with colorectal cancer in the tissue samples. In the stool samples, the results indicate 80.2% (77/96) sensitivity and 100% (30/30) specificity of the test for detecting colorectal cancer by using the stool samples as a noninvasive method.</p><p><b>Conclusions</b>. The study reveals that hypermethylation in Spastic paraplegia-20 promoter is a highly specific and sensitive biomarker for screening colorectal cancer in stool samples as a noninvasive method.</p>