A simple blood test can predict the risk of colon cancer recurrence.

BarcelonaA simple blood test can predict the risk of colon and rectal cancer recurrence, even before surgery to remove the tumor. Those with a high concentration of LNA, a molecule present in our cells, are 4.7 times more likely to develop cancer again than people with lower levels.

The research, published this Friday in the journal Annals of Surgery, opens the door to new strategies to combat this type of cancer. For example, offering chemotherapy or other specific therapies to reduce the risk in people with high spermidine levels. Despite the evidence, the authors believe that further studies are needed to validate the results.

Surgery is the main curative treatment for patients with this type of cancer, which is the third most diagnosed in the world. Relapse rates are around 15% to 25% of cases, according to Blanca Montcusí, a doctor in the surgery department at Hospital del Mar, a researcher, and one of the authors of the study. For this reason, the professionals at the Barcelona center explain that they put so much effort into finding new tools to predict the risk of relapse.

According to the study's conclusions, the greater the drop in spermidine levels after surgery, the less likely the patient is to develop cancer again. The conclusions come from the follow-up of 146 patients with a tumor in the colon or rectum for five years after surgery. In one in six—that is, 16.4% of cases—the tumor recurred, and the authors found that these individuals had high spermidine levels before undergoing surgery.

The researchers believe that further studies with other patients are needed to validate the results and determine if they have a new tool to predict cancer recurrence in these cases. The study was conducted in collaboration with the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the Faculty of Biology at the University of Barcelona (UB) and was funded by the Carlos III Health Institute.

Anti-aging supplements

The researcher of the Applied Metabolomics Research Group of the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Francisco Madrid-Gambin, warns that there is influencers On social media, people recommend taking spermidine supplements to combat the effects of aging, such as to prevent hair loss or the appearance of gray hair. The expert considers these recommendations "reckless" because the molecule is linked to cell proliferation and, therefore, could also be related to the development of cancer. However, at the moment it is still unknown whether high spermidine levels are a cause or consequence of the tumor. "Until we know whether it works for or against the tumor, I would recommend caution when taking it as a supplement," he warns.