Colon & Rectum Cancer

About

Description: Approximately 4.5 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with colon and rectum cancer at some point during their lifetime, based on 2010-2012 data. The earlier colon and rectum cancer is caught, the better chance a person has of surviving five years after being diagnosed. Stool testing is likely to be particularly valuable, because it represents a non-invasive method for screening all of the colon and rectum, without the need for bowel preparation. The Mcm2 protein, a component of the DNA replication apparatus, is currently being developed for its use as an early marker of colorectal cancer in cells from stool washings. Mcm2 is a subunit of the replication fork helicase, the macromolecular assembly that unwinds DNA at a replication fork. Mcm2 lacks specificity because it is present in all stages of the cell cyle. The present invention identifies a novel post-translational modification of Mcm2, wherein the serine 53 residue is phosphorylated (Mcm2-S53P). This technology shows that the human Mcm2-S53P modification is an improved cancer marker compared to human Mcm2, and provides an improved screening array for cancer and other diseases of cell proliferation. Advantages: Higher sensitivity than other currently used markers of cell entry