PLASMA-BASED MICRO-RNA BIOMARKERS AND METHODS FOR EARLY DETECTION OF COLORECTAL CANCER

摘要

The present invention provides a diagnostic kit of molecular markers in blood for diagnosing colorectal cancer, and/or monitoring the therapeutic effect for treating colorectal cancer. The kit comprises a plurality of nucleic acid molecules, and each nucleic acid molecule encodes a microRNA biomarker, wherein one or more of the plurality of nucleic acid molecules are differentially expressed in plasma of patient and healthy control, and wherein the one or more differentially expressed nucleic acid molecules together represent a nucleic acid expression biomarker that is indicative for the presence of colorectal cancer. The invention further provides corresponding methods using such nucleic acid expression biomarkers for identifying colorectal cancer as well as for preventing or treating such a condition. Finally, the invention provides a pharmaceutical composition for the prevention and/or treatment of colorectal cancer.