# Biomarkers for Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer in Ulcerative Colitis

> **NIH NIH R01** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $97,710

## Abstract

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon. Patients with extensive UC of more than
8 years duration have an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) which approximates 0.5-1% per year of
colitis; this leads to a recommendation for life-long surveillance colonoscopy. However, cancer surveillance for
these patients is expensive, time-consuming and invasive. Moreover, the sensitivity of detecting dysplasia in
colonoscopy is only moderate, largely due to the difficulty in detecting flat dysplastic lesions in the setting of
UC. An objective molecular biomarker for dysplasia would have great clinical value in the management of
cancer risk in UC patients. In our efforts for biomarker development for UC dysplasia, we previously discovered
that the non-dysplastic mucosa is genetically abnormal in UC patients who have neoplasia elsewhere in their
colon (progressors), i.e. there is a field defect phenomenon in UC progressors which is not present in UC non-
progressors (patients without dysplasia). Recently, we further discovered that the same field defect extends to
abnormal expression of proteins in the non-dysplastic mucosa from the rectum of UC progressors. These
findings are exciting because these protein changes occur in randomly sampled colon and/or rectal mucosa
regardless of whether dysplasia is present or not. These abnormally expressed proteins could be valuable for
developing biomarkers that are effective and relatively non-invasive for detecting UC dysplasia. One can
envision that a random biopsy from an unprepped rectum would suffice to provide the sample needed for
biomarker testing. This proposal seeks to develop molecular biomarkers for two purposes: 1) to detect current
dysplasia/cancer; 2) to predict (track) future dysplasia/cancer progression. Molecular biomarkers will be
developed by using cutting edge quantitative and then evaluated and validated using immunohistochemistry
(IHC) and targeted proteomics methods. Finally, the molecular biomarkers will be evaluated for their clinical
value in detecting and predicting UC neoplasia progression in different cohorts. We believe that this project will
greatly improve the current surveillance strategy for early detection of UC-associated colorectal cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10172861
- **Project number:** 5R01CA211892-05
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Ru Chen
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $97,710
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-06-19 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10172861

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10172861, Biomarkers for Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer in Ulcerative Colitis (5R01CA211892-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10172861. Licensed CC0.

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