Colorectal cancer biomarkers: To be or not to be? Cautionary tales from a road well travelled

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide and places a major economic burden on the global health care system. The time frame for development from premalignant to malignant disease typically spans 10-15 years, and this latent period provides an ideal opportunity for early detection and intervention to improve patient outcomes. Currently, early diagnosis of CRC is hampered by a lack of suitable non-invasive biomarkers that are clinically or economically acceptable for population-based screening. New blood-based protein biomarkers for early detection of CRC are therefore urgently required. The success of clinical biomarker discovery and validatio..