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Changes in Stem Cells of the Colon in Response to Increased Risk of Colorectal Cancer

NCT01075893 · Status: COMPLETED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 11

Last updated 2017-10-31

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Colorectal cancer is a common disease worldwide. Increasing evidence is demonstrating that colorectal cancers arise from 'cancer stem cells.' Stem cells in the colon reside at the bottom of thousands of microscopic crypts throughout the wall of the colon. They create all the cells lining the bowel wall. These cells are created in the base of the crypt and ascend to the top acquiring the characteristics of mature cells of the bowel wall as they ascend.

It is now thought that colorectal cancer cells arise from stem cells where the genetic material regulating growth and division of the stem cell has become defective. This leads to unregulated production of cells which in turn have defective genetic information and cancer formation.

Prior studies have demonstrated that the earliest changes before a cancer develops are changes in cellular proliferation. Now that reliable markers to identify stem cells have been found, the researchers aim to investigate stem cell numbers and changes in distribution in those at normal risk of colorectal cancer and those at higher risk. The researchers hypothesise that changes in cellular proliferation at the top of the crypt in individuals at higher risk of colorectal cancer are due to a change in the number of stem cells in the crypt base.

Conditions

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

    collaborator OTHER

  • Newcastle University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Iain JD McCallum, MBChB MRCS · Newcastle University, UK

  • John C Mathers, PhD · Newcastle University, UK

  • Seamus B Kelly, MD FRCS · Newcastle University, UK

  • Mike Bradburn, MD FRCS · Northumbria NHS foundation trust

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
85 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2010-02-28
Primary Completion
2012-10-31
Completion
2012-10-31

Countries

  • United Kingdom

Study Locations

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Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT01075893 on ClinicalTrials.gov