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Colorectal cancer: a blood test to identify patients at risk of recurrence
2 mars 2026
By Elodie Vaz | Published on March 2nd, 2026 | 3 min readColorectal cancer remains a disease characterized by heterogeneous clinical outcomes, with varying risks of recurrence and mortality among patients. Despite the use of standard prognostic factors such as tumor stage and age, the ability to accurately predict individual disease progression remains limited. This uncertainty highlights the need
By Elodie Vaz | Published on March 2nd, 2026 | 3 min read
Colorectal cancer remains a disease characterized by heterogeneous clinical outcomes, with varying risks of recurrence and mortality among patients. Despite the use of standard prognostic factors such as tumor stage and age, the ability to accurately predict individual disease progression remains limited. This uncertainty highlights the need for complementary biological tools capable of identifying, at the time of diagnosis, patients at increased risk of recurrence or death. In this context, the exploration of blood-based markers grounded in epigenetic mechanisms represents a promising avenue to improve prognostic stratification.
A study conducted by researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center, published on February 1, 2026, in Clinical Epigenetics, evaluated the potential of blood-based markers to predict clinical outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer. The objective was to determine whether these DNA markers—derived from epigenetic signatures associated with circulating proteins—could identify patients at higher risk of recurrence or death beyond the clinical factors currently used in routine practice.
Colorectal cancer remains a disease characterized by heterogeneous clinical outcomes, with varying risks of recurrence and mortality among patients. Despite the use of standard prognostic factors such as tumor stage and age, the ability to accurately predict individual disease progression remains limited. This uncertainty highlights the need for complementary biological tools capable of identifying, at the time of diagnosis, patients at increased risk of recurrence or death. In this context, the exploration of blood-based markers grounded in epigenetic mechanisms represents a promising avenue to improve prognostic stratification.
A study conducted by researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center, published on February 1, 2026, in Clinical Epigenetics, evaluated the potential of blood-based markers to predict clinical outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer. The objective was to determine whether these DNA markers—derived from epigenetic signatures associated with circulating proteins—could identify patients at higher risk of recurrence or death beyond the clinical factors currently used in routine practice.
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Scientific reference
Richards AR, et al. Blood DNA methylation-predicted plasma protein levels and colorectal cancer survival. Clin Epigenetics. 2026;18:24. doi:10.1186/s13148-026-02059-3.
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