By investigating plasma from individuals free of colorectal tumors, patients with colorectal adenomas, and patients with colorectal cancer (CRC, stage I-IV), the newly formed MetaboCCC Consortium aimed on investigating changes in the metabolome along the continuum of colorectal carcinogenesis.
We performed metabolomic analyses in 2,025 plasma samples derived from well-defined populations of four TRANSCAN countries (the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Norway) with assays completed at an expert site (France), using multiple discovery and replication sets to define biologic mechanisms of colorectal carcinogenesis. For a comprehensive and complementary strategy, we applied both targeted and untargeted metabolomics.
We aimed to a) determine preventive or predisposing plasma metabolites discerning adenoma cases from controls, b) determine plasma metabolites that characterize CRC, compared with controls or adenoma cases, and c) test for markers that discern CRC stages.
We expect that the discovery of novel metabolites in blood that define the transition between various stages of of colorectal carcinogenesis can be used in the future for risk stratification, including for tailored prevention strategies by endoscopy.