The Study of a Patient's Immune System May Prove to be a Useful Noninvasive Tool for Stage Classification in Colon Cancer

Therapy, and, therefore, prognosis, is strictly related to cancer stage, and hence, screening tests that can contribute to the early classification of disease stage represent a step forward in treatment. Unfortunately, few prognostic indices are available, especially noninvasive ones. Our study of the physiological network of the immune response, however, leads us to believe that it may well be possible to define immunological indices for the classification of cancer stage using blood parameters. In this paper, we show how the study of a patient's immune system can be used as a noninvasive tool for early-stage classification.