Table 2.
Colorectal cancer blood-based liquid biopsy biomarkers
| Biomarker target | Sensitivity | Specificity |
| Circulating tumor cells (CTCs)a | ||
| EpCAM enrichment | CRC: 0.86 (121) AA: 0.71 (121) |
CRC: 0.95 (121) AA: 0.85 (121) |
| Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) | ||
| cg10673833 (MYO1-G) | CRC: 0.84–0.87 (122,123) AA: 0.33 (123) |
CRC: 0.90–0.95 (122,123) AA: 0.67 (123) |
| VIM | CRC: 0.59–0.84 (124) AA: 0.45 (124) |
CRC: 0.93–0.95 (124) AA: 0.95 (124) |
| BCAT1/IKZF1 | CRC: 0.66 (125) AA: 0.06 (125) |
CRC: 0.94–0.95 (125) AA: 0.94–0.95 (125) |
| Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) | ||
| SEPT9 (mSEPT9) | CRC: 0.37–0.88 (126) AA: 0.23 (126) |
CRC: 0.77–0.99 (126) AA: 0.91 (126) |
| 11 methylation markersb | CRC: 0.84 (127) AA: 0.77 (127) |
CRC: 0.86 (127) AA: 0.83 (127) |
| SFRP1/SFRP2/SDC2/PRIMA1 | CRC: 0.92 (128) AA: 0.89 (128) |
CRC: 0.97 (128) AA: 0.87 (128) |
| Circulating microRNA (miRNA) markers | ||
| miR-760 | CRC: 0.80 (129) AA: 0.70 (129) |
CRC: 0.70 (129) AA: 0.62 (129) |
| miR-601/miR-760 | CRC: 0.83 (129) AA: 0.72 (129) |
CRC: 0.69 (129) AA: 0.62 (129) |
| miR-29a/miR-92a | CRC: 0.83 (130) AA: 0.73 (130) |
CRC: 0.85 (130) AA: 0.80 (130) |
| Exosomal long noncoding RNA (lncRNAs) markers | ||
| UCA1 | CRC: 1.0 (131) | CRC: 0.43 (131) |
| TUG1/UCA1 | CRC: 0.93 (131) | CRC: 0.64 (131) |
| SNHG11 | CRC: 0.93 (132) | CRC: 0.71 (132) |
| ZFAS1/SNHG11/LINC00909/LINC00654 | CRC: 0.92 (132) | CRC: 0.83 (132) |
| Exosomal circular RNA (circRNA) markers | ||
| circPanel (hsa_circ_0001900/hsa_circ_0001178/hsa_circ_0005927) | CRC: 0.68–0.73 (133) AA: 0.84 (133) |
CRC: 0.83–0.90 (133) AA: 0.70 (133) |
| hsa_circ_0007534 | CRC: 0.92 (134) | CRC: 0.52 (134) |
| hsa-circ-0004771 | CRC: 0.81 (135) | CRC: 0.83 (135) |
| Messenger RNA (mRNA markers) | ||
| hTERT | CRC: 0.98 (136) | CRC: 0.64 (136) |
| CK-19/CK-20/CEA/REG4/uPA/TIAM1 mRNA | CRC: 0.89 (137) | CRC: 0.88 (137) |
| CEA/CK20/survivin | CRC: 0.61 (138) | CRC: 0.76 (138) |
| Exosomal proteins markers | ||
| QSOX1 | CRC: 0.74–0.88 (139) | CRC: 0.83–0.94 (139) |
| CPNE3 | CRC: 0.68 (140) | CRC: 0.84 (140) |
| HSP60 | CRC: 0.63 (141) | CRC: 0.95 (141) |
| Other protein and cytological markers | ||
| CEA | CRC: 0.11 (142) AA: 0.05 (142) |
CRC: 0.98 (142) AA: 0.98 (142) |
| CA 19-9 | CRC: 0.08 (142) AA: 0.03 (142) |
CRC: 0.98 (142) AA: 0.98 (142) |
| TDGF 1/Cripto 1/CEA/ECM | CRC: 0.79–0.91 (143) AA: >0.60 (143) |
CRC: 0.81–0.87 (143) AA: not reported (143) |
| Combination of biological targets | ||
| CECs/cfDNA | CRC: 1.0 (144) AA: 0.73–0.83 (144) |
CRC: 0.89–0.91 (144) AA: 0.87–0.91 (144) |
| cfDNA and protein immunoassays | CRC: 0.91 (145) AA: 0.41 (145) |
CRC: 0.94 (145) AA: 0.90 (145) |
| cfDNA/ctDNA | CRC: 0.90–0.96 (146–148) AA: 0.20 (149) |
CRC: 0.94–0.97 (146–148) AA: not reported (149) |
AA, advanced adenomas; BCAT1, branched-chain amino acid transaminase 1; CA, carbohydrate antigen; CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen; CK, cytokeratin; CPNE3, exosomal Copine III; CRC, colorectal cancer; DNA, desoxyribonucleic acid; ECM, extracellular matrix; EpCAM, epithelial cell adhesion molecule; HSP60, heat-shock protein 60; hTERT, human telomerase reverse transcriptase; IKZF1, IKAROS, family zinc finger 1; LINC00, long intergenic noncoding RNA; PRIMA1, Proline-rich membrane anchor 1; REG4, regenerating islet-derived family, member 4; RNA, ribonucleic acid; QSOX1, quiescin sulfhydryl oxidase 1; SDC2, Syndecan 2; SEPT9, septin 9; SFRP, secreted frizzled-related protein; SNHG11, small nucleolar RNA, host; TDGF-1, teratocarcinoma-derived growth factor 1; TIAM1, T-cell lymphoma invasion and metastasis 1; TUG1, taurine upregulated gene 1; UCA1, urothelial cancer-associated 1; uPA, plasminogen activator urokinase; VIM, vimentin; ZFAS1, zinc finger antisense 1.
Outcomes for CTC-based studies in CRC are frequently reported as detection rates, overall survival, and progression-free survival.
This panel contains cg00310855, cg01857475, cg01922936, cg11320449, cg11407741, cg11596863, cg15020425, cg22329423, cg24733262, cg25300584, cg26337020.