A follow-up study of colonic epithelial proliferation as a biomarker in a native-american family with hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer

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].