University of Colorado team identifies new colon cancer marker

A research team at the University of Colorado Cancer Center has identified an enzyme to diagnose the early colorectal cancer. It is possible that this enzyme could be a key to stopping the cancer.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in American with a one in 20 chance of developing, according to the American Cancer Society. This enzyme biomarkers can doctors to identify more colon cancer and do so at earlier stages, when the cancer is treated more successfully.

Research was published 7 online edition under the direction of Vasilis Vassiliou, PhD, Professor of Molecular Toxicology at the University of Colorado School of pharmacy, and in the Jan of biochemical and biophysical research communications. Vassiliou's laboratory specialized understanding of the role of enzymes, the aldehyde DEHYDROGENASES in drug metabolism, metabolic diseases, cancer and normal and cancer stem cells called.

Vassiliou's team studied colon cancer by 40 patients and found there a form this enzyme known as ALDH1B1 in every cell of colon cancer in 39 of 40 cases. The enzyme, which is found only in stem cells was detected at a very high level.

"Other potential colon cancer biomarkers have been identified in the past but none are so far available overexpressed like this, in such a high percent of cancer cells and virtually no" David Orlicky, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology at the CU says school and member of the research team medical.

This statement is particularly timely as it was 2011 recommended last week at the annual meeting of the human genome, a chemical analysis for biomarker should accompany always genotyping in early detection of colorectal cancer, says Vassiliou, who participated in the meeting in Dubai.

It seems that ALDH1B1 of the development or growth of these cancer cells, helps because it would be present in each cell so high about simply a by-product of the cancer. Based on this finding, the enzyme, a way to treat disease involving says Ying Chen, PhD, lead author and Assistant Professor of Molecular Toxicology at the school of pharmacy of the CU.

The team now studies such as this enzyme is up regulated in cancer cells colon and his exact role in the physiology of the tumor cells, says Vassiliou. The team also strives to understand the substrate, inhibitors and activators of the ALDH1B1.

"Our efforts are focused on the development of a drug, which could in a toxic compound and kill the cancer cell if the enzyme processes," says Vassiliou. "It would seem like a suicide pill, if you will."

Vassiliou's team works in this work with laboratories at the National Cancer Institute, Scripps Research Institute in California, University of Melbourne, Australia, University of Heidelberg in Germany and Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

"This work a landmark in the understanding of basic metabolic processes within the cancer cell colon be taken into account," says Orlicky.

Source: University of Colorado Cancer Center