The test can determine accurately if cancer cells are present in the lymph nodes of colorectal cancer patients. Presence of cancer in the lymph nodes was found to be a positive indicator that the cancer has spread.
Colorectal cancer is more easily treatable when the cancer is confined to the intestine.
Once the cancer spreads to the adjacent lymph nodes, more aggressive chemotherapy is usually needed. Yet, current tests to determine if the cancer has entered the lymph nodes are not always accurate, said Waldman, who is also the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Family professor of medicine. This new test looks for the presence of guanylyl cyclase C, or GCC, in the lymph nodes. GCC is a protein that can be found in colorectal tumors but is not usually found in tissue or cancer that is not in the intestine. Waldman and his colleagues studied the lymph nodes of 21 patients who had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer and who had surgery to remove the cancer from the intestine.