Analysis of 32 Blood-Based Protein Biomarkers for their Potential to Diagnose Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is largely viewed as a preventable disease but the prevalence is increasing worldwide. Although many faecal and blood-based biomarkers have been proposed as potential diagnostic markers, none have been successful in large cohort studies. In this study, ELISA was used to evaluate 32 candidate protein biomarkers in a single cohort of CRC patients (n=95) and age/sex matched controls (n=50). Of these, 12 markers differed statistically between cases and controls. Receiver operating characteristic analysis identified IL8, Mac2BP, TIMP1, and OPN as the best performing markers for overall CRC diagnosis. However, further analysis determined that IL6, TGFB1, TIMP2 and IGF2 were most accurate at identifying early stage disease. We also assessed the correlation between markers and determined that the strongest correlations existed between VEGFA and TGFB1 (r=0.65, pu003c0.0001), M30 and M65 (r=0.59, pu003c0.001), and between TGFB1 and TIMP1 (r=0.55, pu003c0.0001). This analysis provides a consistent baseline for identifying a potential panel of diagnostic protein biomarkers in blood. Our results highlight protein biomarker combinations that reflect the disease process and which may provide the sensitivity and specificity required a reliable diagnosis of CRC.