A Follow-up Study of Colonic Epithelial Proliferation as a Biomarker in a Native-American Family with Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colon Cancer

Abstract

A 7–year follow–up study of colonic mucosa proliferation markers was conducted on members of a Native–American family with hereditary non–polyposis colon cancer. Reproducibility of a tritiated thymidine autoradiography assay for labeling indexes during this 7–year biologically significant time frame was established. A good correlation between tritiated thymidine and a newer technique, bromodeoxyuridine immunoperoxidase staining, was seen. No confounding effect could be attributed to standard colon preparation. On average, both baseline and follow–up values for epithelial proliferation were within the accepted normalrange. The presence of essentially normal labeling indexes among colon cancer patients and their high–risk offspring suggests the possibility of the significant effect of dietary factors in reducing proliferation. Such factors may account for the low risk of colon cancer that characterzies the Native–American population in the American Southwest. [J Natl Cancer Inst 83: 951–954, 1991]