A Case Study of Familiar Gastrointestinal Pathologies at Risk of Cancer. Early Detection of Degenerative Signals by Oxidative Stress Biomarkers

Author(s): Carla Ferreri, Maria Marone, Elena Confalone, Anna De Maio, Anna Rita Bianchi, Chrissostomos Chatgilialoglu and Maria Rosaria Faraone Mennella

Beyond factors such as smoking and obesity, the risk of getting gastrointestinal cancer is passed down from parents to offspring, inherited by a gene mutation, predisposing them to develop cancer in their lifetime. Here we describe the clinical history of family members affected by gastrointestinal pathologies often leading to cancer. In the epidemiological study, the cohort of members of this family shared a high risk of developing gastrointestinal diseases. The subjects were monitored from May 2006 to December 2017 by collecting periodically clinical and endoscopic data, and determining both auto-modification of lymphocyte Poly (ADP-ribose) Polymerase as early signal of DNA damage, and erythrocyte membrane lipid composition (Fat Profile). Both biomarkers were demonstrated to be non invasive and easy tools, to monitor over time family members, first the oldest members (nine siblings), and thereafter their offspring, whose cell status evolved from physiological even to cancerous one. All subjects developed gastrointestinal pathologies of different kind and seriousness. Some diseases evolved to cancer, sometimes as a sudden and lethal event. The results of the two molecular approaches, were in agreement and even predicted the clinical and imaging paths. This cohort study supported the hypothesis that both non-invasive molecular analyses can predict altered cell states and support clinical and imaging tests.