NDRG4 Methylation Change: A Promising Biomarker in Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most widespread Cancers across the world. Notwithstanding the diagnoses and treatments developed over the past four decades, patients' survival rate has improved moderately; and yet, it still has a 5-year survival rate of less than 50%. In this study, hypermethylation of the NDRG4 gene was evaluated as a biomarker in CRC screening. Materials and Methods: 70 samples were examined in this case-control study (45 CRC patients versus 25 healthy controls) totally, and Methylation- Specific PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) technique was used to investigate the NDRG4 methylation situation in plasma samples. Results: The mean age in the control group and CRC patients was 58.4±3.4 years and 64.6±4.4 years, respectively. The male to female ratio in the control group and CRC patients was 1.5:1 and 1.1:1, respectively. Gastrointestinal disease history was positive in 12% and 33% of patients in the control group and CRC patients. In this study, NDRG4 gene hypermethylation was observed in 53.3% of patients, while it was shown in only 23.3% of healthy controls. Conclusion: The results showed that NDRG4 could be a prognostic biomarker in CRC diagnosis and screen as a noninvasive blood-based biomarker.