11 research outputs found
Cancer recurrence times from a branching process model
As cancer advances, cells often spread from the primary tumor to other parts
of the body and form metastases. This is the main cause of cancer related
mortality. Here we investigate a conceptually simple model of metastasis
formation where metastatic lesions are initiated at a rate which depends on the
size of the primary tumor. The evolution of each metastasis is described as an
independent branching process. We assume that the primary tumor is resected at
a given size and study the earliest time at which any metastasis reaches a
minimal detectable size. The parameters of our model are estimated
independently for breast, colorectal, headneck, lung and prostate cancers. We
use these estimates to compare predictions from our model with values reported
in clinical literature. For some cancer types, we find a remarkably wide range
of resection sizes such that metastases are very likely to be present, but none
of them are detectable. Our model predicts that only very early resections can
prevent recurrence, and that small delays in the time of surgery can
significantly increase the recurrence probability.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, 4 table
Plasma protein changes reflect colorectal cancer development and associated inflammation
Abstract
Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy and the second leading cause of death worldwide. Efficient non-invasive blood-based biomarkers for CRC early detection and prognosis are urgently needed.
Methods: To identify novel potential plasma biomarkers, we applied a proximity extension assay (PEA), an antibody-based proteomics strategy to quantify the abundance of plasma proteins in CRC development and cancer-associated inflammation from few μL of plasma sample.
Results: Among the 690 quantified proteins, levels of 202 plasma proteins were significantly changed in CRC patients compared to age-and-sex-matched healthy subjects. We identified novel protein changes involved in Th17 activity, oncogenic pathways, and cancer-related inflammation with potential implications in the CRC diagnosis. Moreover, the interferon γ (IFNG), interleukin (IL) 32, and IL17C were identified as associated with the early stages of CRC, whereas lysophosphatidic acid phosphatase type 6 (ACP6), Fms-related tyrosine kinase 4 (FLT4), and MANSC domain-containing protein 1 (MANSC1) were correlated with the late-stages of CRC.
Discussion: Further study to characterize the newly identified plasma protein changes from larger cohorts will facilitate the identification of potential novel diagnostic, prognostic biomarkers for CRC