Dissecting the Biology of Early-onset Colorectal Cancer

NCT05916443 · Status: UNKNOWN · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 30

Last updated 2023-07-24

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Contrarily to late-onset (LO) colorectal cancer (CRC), early-onset (EO) CRC incidence is increasingly growing. Several factors, such as obesity, chronic inflammation, and intestinal dysbiosis, can increase the general risk of CRC. However, little is known about the biology of EO-CRC. To evaluate whether such selective rise in the incidence of EO-CRC patients mirrors a distinct transcriptomic profile, the investigators will first dissect EO-CRC's transcriptomic landscape.

Then, the investigators will investigate the colorectal cancer stem cell (CSC) compartment by in vitro functional assays and RNA-seq analysis. Because our preliminary data indicate an increased aggressiveness of the tumor microenvironment (TME) in EO-CRC,the investigators propose to investigate the CSC niche and the interaction with the TME to dissect the molecular and cellular pathways occurring in EO-CRC.

A cohort of 30 EO-CRC patients (\<50 years old) will be enrolled and fully characterized. About 10 EO-CRC-derived CSCs in the form of organoids and spheroids will be generated. Since the relevant differences between CR-CSCs isolated from EO-CRC vs LO-CRC patients are still unknown, the investigators will gain information about their specific features such as clonogenic activity, tumorigenic/invasive capacity, and about differences in the mechanisms regulating their cross-talk with TME components.

Conditions

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS

    lead OTHER

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
50 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2023-08-01
Primary Completion
2024-06-30
Completion
2025-09-30

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Entities

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 NCT05916443 on ClinicalTrials.gov