FECAPENTAENE DETECTION FOR COLON CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY

COLON CANCER REMAINS A MAJOR MEDICAL CHALLENGE IN TERMS OF INCIDENCE, DETECTION, AND CURE. THE MOST PRESSING ASPECT OFTHE PROBLEM IS THE RELATIVELY HIGH MORTALITY RATE OF 50 PERCENT, DUE PRIMARILY TO THE LATE DETECTION OF THE DISEASE. RESEARCH HAS DETECTED THE PRESENCE OF POTENT MUTAGENS IN FECES, AND THE STRUCTURE OF THESE COMPOUNDS, CALLED FECAPENTAENES, HAS BEEN ELUCIDATED. IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT THE PRESENCE OF THESE MUTAGENS IS DIRECTLY INVOLVED WITH NEOPLASTIC TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE COLON, BUT LARGE-SCALE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES HAVE NOT YET BEEN DONE TO ESTABLISH A CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP. THE PRESENT HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY TECHNIQUEFOR FECAPENTAENE DETECTION IS QUITE SENSITIVE, BUT IT IS TOOCUMBERSOME IN TERMS OF SAMPLE PREPARATION AND THROUGHPUT TO UTILIZE IN LARGE-SCALE STUDIES. DEVELOPMENT OF AN IMMUNOASSAY BASED ON AN ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY (ELISA) FORMAT WOULD GREATLY REDUCE THE COST OF ANALYSIS AND WOULD PERMIT ANALYSIS OF MUCH LARGER NUMBERS OF SAMPLES. ONCE THE CASUAL RELATIONSHIP IS ESTABLISHED, THE ELISA COULD BE USED FOR SCREENING HIGH-RISK INDIVIDUALS DURING ROUTINE PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS. DETECTION OF ELEVATEDLEVELS OF THE MUTAGENS WOULD PERMIT DIETARY MODIFICATION ANDCLOSER SCREENING FOR DETECTION OF THE ACTUAL DISEASE.