Protein Markers Associated with an ALDH Sub-Population in Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Although almost 70% of patients can be operated on with intent to cure, up to 30% of all these patients will relapse within 2-3 years. Survival rates for colon cancer have steadily improved mainlydue to a combination of earlier diagnosis and improvements in treatment. Nevertheless, an improved understanding of the protein signaling pathways could provide new biomarkers for potential targets of therapeutic and surgical intervention.

Tissue-based proteome analysis is essential for understanding the signaling pathways in cancer especially when the tissue is from the primary tumor site. In particular, formalin-fixed paraffinembedded(FFPE) samples are routinely used for processing and storage of pathology specimens. However, the analysis of FFPE tissue sections is limited by tissue heterogeneity, where the phenotype pathways need to be associated with specific populations of cells.