Exploration of Non-Coding Rnas Involved in the Colorectal Adenoma-To-Carcinoma Process for Improving Early Detection of Precancerous Lesions

According to the cancer registry of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2017, colorectal cancer (CRC) has shown with the highest prevalence rate among the top ten cancers in Taiwan for nine consecutive years. There are more than 15,000 new patients per year, and the age of disease onset is declining gradually. Clinical data clearly demonstrate that the survival rate can increase to 90% when the cancer detected at the early stage (stages I and II). Moreover, removal of polyps can reduce the likelihood of transformation into cancer and CRC occurrence. However, the current screening program of CRC in Taiwan has based on immunochemical faecal occult blood test (iFOBT), which has limitations in cancer detection and prediction: ~70% sensitivity for detection of CRC and ~20% sensitivity for detection of advanced polyps. Therefore, accurate and efficient detection of colorectal polyps becomes an urgent issue needed for improving CRC screening. Recently, accumulated studies have indicated that microRNAs and circRNAs are molecules that stable in the body fluids, and the disease-specific properties make them as promising biomarkers for diagnosis. To date, there are no reported small RNA transcriptome studies on polyp tissues. In this project, we plan to perform ribo-minus RNA sequencing and small RNA sequencing with the autologous samples including tumor, adjacent normal, nearby and distant polyp tissues from 10 individual patients. From evaluating the alteration of mRNAs and non-coding RNAs (including long non-coding RNAs, microRNAs and circRNAs) in normal, polyp and tumor tissues, we can comprehensively understand the regulatory mechanisms in colorectal carcinogenesis. We then select the RNA molecules that are specific for identification of polyps by validating their discriminating power in plasma and stool samples from 300 subjects (including normal control, individuals with polyps, and CRC patients confirmed by colonoscopy). The ultimate goal is to develop a non-invasive molecular assay to improve the early detection rate of precancerous lesions to CRC.

Project ID:PC10708-0968
External Project ID:MOST107-2320-B182-024