Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) became the third most commonly diagnosed malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer death in 2020. However, the rates of early screening and early diagnosis for CRC remain unsatisfactory. Thus, it is essential to explore the initiating factors of CRC and strategies for its early diagnosis. Research progress in liquid biopsy has led to the finding that circulating tumor-derived DNA (ctDNA) and exosomes play vital roles in early detection of CRC. THE APPLICATIONS OF LIQUID BIOPSY FOR EARLY DETECTION OF COLORECTAL CANCER: Moreover, the increased understanding of epigenetics has highlighted the role of ctDNA methylation in CRC carcinogenesis, and the detection of aberrant ctDNA methylation markers is a feasible strategy for diagnosis of early-stage CRC. Among exosomal markers, microRNAs (miRNAs) are abundant and are the most researched. Upregulated or downregulated expression of exosome-derived miRNAs can indicate the occurrence of early-stage CRC.
Future perspective: The current research progress on aberrant ctDNA methylation and tumor exosomal miRNA biomarkers in early detection of CRC is summarized in this review, and the advantages and shortcomings of the methods are discussed.
Keywords: Circulating tumor DNA; Colorectal cancer; Early detection; Methylation; microRNA.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.