UAMS Researcher Aids Cancer Prevention With Method for Identifying Colon Polyp Type

By Ben Boulden

The study, led by UAMS Professor Curt Hagedorn, M.D., also chief of medicine for Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare Systems (CAVHS), has defined the way genes are expressed in sessile serrated polyps in the colon and used this information to identify diagnostic markers for them in patients. A sessile colon polyp is a lump in the lining of the large bowel that is attached and not free to move.

The findings recently were published in PLOS ONE, an international, peer-reviewed online publication for scientific research.

“If studies that already are in progress confirm these results, then this will greatly aid in preventing colon cancer,” Hagedorn said. “The research and its findings will apply to all patients with sessile serrated polyps, not just a subgroup of patients.”

He said he plans to incorporate some of these approaches in a large VA cooperative study on colon cancer prevention in which CAVHS is a participating site.

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women. It usually develops from polyps that form in the lining of the colon. Some polyps have a risk of becoming cancerous while others appear to have little or no risk for cancer.

Serrated polyps occur at a high incidence in the general population. One study showed that 27 percent of men and 18 percent of women have such polyps. Evidence is increasing that some serrated polyps, especially sessile serrated polyps, may account for 30 percent of colon cancers. Serrated polyps can look similar to other polyps but have different rates of progression to colon cancer. Currently, clinicians are unable to predict the risk of colon cancer in patients with serrated polyps because of the difficulties in differentiating sessile serrated from other polyp types, particularly hyperplastic polyps.

This has a direct effect on the ability to determine which patients and how often patients should be screened for colon cancer and to identify patients at extreme risk for cancer who should be considered for chemoprevention therapy.

“The validation and use of the markers described in this study also will enable further studies of patients with sessile serrated and other polyps to personalized care for specific patients aimed at preventing colon cancer,” Hagedorn said. “A long-term goal is to develop chemoprevention treatments for patients with sessile serrated polyps that prevent the formation of these polyps and colon cancer.”

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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