SOLUBLE FECAL ACIDIC LIPIDS AND COLORECTAL EPITHELIAL-CELL PROLIFERATION IN NORMAL SUBJECTS AND IN PATIENTS WITH COLON CANCER

Soluble fecal acidic lipid concentrations and colonic epithelial cell proliferation rates, two biologic markers for colon cancer, were compared in a group of colon cancer patients and a group of healthy controls. No significant difference was found in the concentration of bile acids (155 (136)-mu-M, n = 33, versus 103 (89)-mu-M, n = 19) in the aqueous phase of feces from patients and controls or in proliferation rates between the two groups, the volume density of tritiated thymidine-labeled epithelial cells being 0.153 (0.050), n = 8, for the patients and 0.164 (0.072), n = 11, for the controls. When the dietary intake of three food components known to influence both of the above factors (that is, fat, fiber, and calcium) was ascertained for the year preceding the study, the only significant difference observed was the higher calcium intake in the female patients than in the controls. The authors conclude that it may be premature to rely too heavily on either of the above markers to predict risk for developing this disease.