| Theme |
Strategy of colon cancer screening |
| Title |
Detection of decay-accelerating factor (DAF) in stools of colorectal cancer patients : A novel marker for colorectal cancer |
| Author |
Motowo Mizuno |
Department of Internal Medicine, Hiroshima City Hospital |
| Author |
Masahiro Nakagawa |
Department of Internal Medicine, Hiroshima City Hospital |
| [ Summary ] |
We previously reported that measurements of stool decay-accelerating factor (DAF), a membrane bound complement regulatory protein, may be valuable in the detection of colorectal cancer. Recently, we have refined the immunoassays for stool DAF. Stool DAF concentrations in patients with colorectal cancer were significantly higher than concentrations in subjects without colorectal diseases. Testing of two samples from each patient significantly increased the sensitivity of the stool DAF test. The stool DAF test was positive in more than one half of patients with colorectal cancer in the relatively early TNM stages or with negative fecal occult blood tests. These findings suggest that stool DAF is a marker of colorectal cancer independent of fecal occult blood and testing of two samples, increases the sensitivity of the stool DAF test. Measurement of stool DAF now seems worthy of further consideration as a noninvasive method for the detection of colorectal cancer. |