Rectal Aberrant Crypt Foci in Humans Are Not Surrogate Markers for Colorectal Cancer Risk

INTRODUCTION: Over the past 20 years, aberrant crypt foci (ACF) have emerged as potential precursors and biomarkers for colorectal cancer (CRC). However, data regarding their molecular pathogenesis, as well as their endoscopic and histological identification, remain inconsistent. METHODS: A wide coh...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Quintanilla, Isabel, López-Cerón, María, Jimeno, Mireya, Cuatrecasas, Miriam, Zabalza, Michel, Moreira, Leticia, Alonso, Virginia, Rodríguez de Miguel, Cristina, Muñoz, Jennifer, Castellvi-Bel, Sergi, Llach, Josep, Castells, Antoni, Balaguer, Francesc, Camps, Jordi, Pellisé, Maria
Format: article
Publication Date:2019
Country:España
Institution:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repository:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:20.500.12328/4670
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/4670
https://dx.doi.org/10.14309/ctg.0000000000000047
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Càncer colorectal
Cáncer colorectal
Colorectal cancer
616
Description
Summary:INTRODUCTION: Over the past 20 years, aberrant crypt foci (ACF) have emerged as potential precursors and biomarkers for colorectal cancer (CRC). However, data regarding their molecular pathogenesis, as well as their endoscopic and histological identification, remain inconsistent. METHODS: A wide cohort of ACF from 100 control subjects and 100 case patients, including patients with adenoma and CRC, were characterized for endoscopic, morphologic, and molecular features. RESULTS: We observed that among all the endoscopic features evaluated, only the number of large ACF correlated with CRC risk (P = 0.003), whereas the histological classification, as assessed by 2 different pathologists, was inconsistent and did not differ between control and case patients. Moreover, only a few APC and BRAF mutations and no microsatellite instability were detected in our samples. KRAS mutations were detected in 16.3% of ACF samples, which also exhibited increased MGMT hypermethylation. However, none of those events were found to be predictive of CRC risk. DISCUSSION: Although ACF might be preneoplastic lesions of the colon, they are not suitable biomarkers for assessing CRC progression.