Supervisors info:
Βαλσάμη Σερένα, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιατρικής, ΕΚΠΑ
Πολίτου Μαριάννα, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιατρικής, ΕΚΠΑ
Κριεμπάρδης Αναστάσιος, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Βιοιατρικών Επιστημών, Σχολή Επιστημών Υγείας και Πρόνοιας, Τομέας Ιατρικών Εργαστηρίων, Πανεπιστήμιο Δυτικής Αττικής
Summary:
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer death ( third in men and second in women). The microparticles are membrane vesicles produced by many kinds of cells, including cancer, during activation or apoptosis. The role of microparticles in cancer is multiple, mainly with the intercellular communication and their prothrombotic activities.
The aim of our study was to measure and identify microparticles in patients with colorectal cancer and their association with clinical - laboratory markers of the disease. For this purpose, blood samples from 96 patients and from 14 volunteers (control group) were studied. The microparticles were measured by the flow cytometric method. Microparticles were found to be elevated in the patients relative to the control group for all parameters measured (total, prothrombotic ( tissue facor expression), of endothelial origin , cancer, of endothelial origin with tissue factor expression, cancer with tissue factor expression) with p=0,0012, p=0,001, p=0,0007, p=0,0000005, p=0,0006, p=0,0000005 respectively.
There were no statistically significant differences between the patients for the microparticles in most individual parameters (smoking, sex, location (right colon- rectum), ( left colon- rectum), ( right- left colon), degree of differentiation (median- low), (high- low), tumor growth ( T1-T2 vs T3-T4) and lymph node infiltration). However, among patients with
high and median degree of differentiation, the microparticles were increased in patients with median grade of differentiation (total p=0,015 , prothrombotic p=0,015 ,endothelial p=0,011 , endothelial with tissue factor p=0,001 ).
It appears that the microparticles are elevated in patients with colorectal cancer from the early stages of the disease. Measurement of microparticles by conducting further studies could perhaps be used as a biomarker in colorectal cancer contributing to its early diagnosis .
