RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Novel Serum Nucleosomics Biomarkers for the Detection of Colorectal Cancer JF Anticancer Research JO Anticancer Res FD International Institute of Anticancer Research SP 2357 OP 2362 VO 34 IS 5 A1 HOLDENRIEDER, STEFAN A1 DHARUMAN, YOGANIRANJANA A1 STANDOP, JENS A1 TRIMPOP, NICOLAI A1 HERZOG, MARIELLE A1 HETTWER, KARINA A1 SIMON, KIRSTEN A1 UHLIG, STEFFEN A1 MICALLEF, JAKE YR 2014 UL http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/34/5/2357.abstract AB Background: To improve prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer, powerful blood-based biomarkers enabling for early detection are needed. As genome-wide DNA hypomethylation is associated with carcinogenesis, and cell-free DNA, thought to be of tumor origin, is found in the circulation of patients with cancer, we investigated the relevance of 5-methylcytosine-modified DNA present in cell-free circulating nucleosomes as a serum biomarker using a convenient enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Materials and Methods: Serum samples from 90 individuals [24 with colorectal cancer (CRC), 10 with benign colorectal diseases (BCD) and 56 healthy controls (HC)] were tested for the differential diagnostic performance of a novel ELISA for nucleosome-bound methylated DNA. Methodical features, including intra- and interassay imprecision, were tested using serum pools. To minimize interassay variability, values were transformed to adjusted optical densities and robust statistics were applied for clinical evaluation. Findings were later re-evaluated on a set of 113 patients (49 CRC, 26 BCD and 38 HC). Results: Intra- and interassay reproducibility were 3.4% and 15.3%, respectively. Levels of circulating methylated DNA were significantly decreased in CRC and BCD when compared to HC (p<0.05), although there was no difference between BCD and CRC. For discrimination of CRC from HC, the area under the curve in receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.78 and sensitivities were 33% at 95% specificity and 75% at 70% specificity, respectively. The findings were generally confirmed when validated in the second set of patients. Conclusion: Reduced methylation of DNA on circulating nucleosomes detected by ELISA can potentially serve as a diagnostic tool in patients with CRC.