Detection of hypermethylated spastic paraplegia-20 in stool samples of patients with colorectal cancer

Background. Analysis of aberrant hypermethylation in stool DNA might provide a novel strategy for noninvasive detection of colorectal cancer. Aims. To explore the feasibility of detecting hypermethylation in Spastic paraplegia-20 promoter as a stool-based DNA marker for detection of colorectal cancer. Methods. We collected 96 tissue and stool samples from patients with colorectal cancer and 30 stool samples healthy individuals. Results. Hypermethylated Spastic paraplegia-20 occurs in 85.4% (82/96) of patients with colorectal cancer in the tissue samples. In the stool samples, the results indicate 80.2% (77/96) sensitivity and 100% (30/30) specificity of the test for detecting colorectal cancer by using the stool samples as a noninvasive method. Conclusions. The study reveals that hypermethylation in Spastic paraplegia-20 promoter is a highly specific and sensitive biomarker for screening colorectal cancer in stool samples as a noninvasive method.