A common blood test that is used for signs of inflammation may also be an indicator for a patients risk for colon cancer.
According to research presented at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), researchers found that a protein produced by the liver as a response to inflammation is an indicator for colon cancer in women. Scientists found when the level of this protein was increased, women were more susceptible to the disease.
The researchers found that women who had the highest levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) were 2.5 times more likely to have colon cancer.
Previous studies have found that there has been a link between CRP and colon cancer, but there has never been solid evidence to back up the notion until now.
“Although cancer-induced inflammation has been proposed to explain the relationship between elevated CRP levels and cancer risk, this hypothesis has not been well evaluated in previous studies,” said researcher Dr. Gong Yang. “This study, the largest study thus far on circulating CRP and colorectal cancer risk, allows us to test this hypothesis in a more definitive manner.”