New test may determine colon cancer recurrence risk

A new study in Germany may have unveiled a test to effectively determine which stage II colorectal cancer patients are at the highest risk for recurrence.

The results of the findings were presented at the 2011 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Experts explained that surgery by itself is often enough to treat stage II patients. This study can help predict which patients would receive the most benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, reducing the chances of recurrence.

For the study, tumor samples from 233 patients were analyzed. Experts were able to formulate gene indexes from each specific tumor.

Researchers found 135 patients to have stage II colorectal cancer and determined nearly three of four were low risk based on the gene tests. The remaining 25 percent noticed much higher risks. Five-year survival rates without significant cancer spreading was nearly 95 percent for the group with low risk, and nearly 80 percent for the higher risk group.

The importance of this test is being valued against other trials used to analyze specific risk factors for stage II colon cancer patients.

The gene index, ColoPrint, may also be effective for stage III colorectal patients.