Colorectal cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death. Early diagnosis is extremely important in terms of treatment and mortality. In this study, we investigated the diagnostic value of serum autotaxin levels in colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common type of cancer worldwide. Among the causes of death due to cancer; it is the second most common among both genders with a rate of 9.2% after lung cancer . Early detection of the disease is important for survival. National screening programs attempt to detect this disease at an early stage.

Autotaxin (ATX) molecule is a member of the nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase enzyme family (ENNP), It is secreted at 125 kDa, has lysophospholipase D activity in the lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) pathway, and is located at the 24th locus of the long arm of the 8th chromosome. This is also called ENPP2. It was discovered to be an autocrine motility-stimulating factor released by human melanoma A-2058 cells . Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a lipid signalling molecule located in the cell membrane. LPA functions as an autocrine/paracrine messenger through at least six G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) known as LPA 1-6. It plays physiologically important roles in various cellular processes, including wound healing, differentiation, cell proliferation, and migration. The role of ATX in the bioactivity of LPA is correlated with the lysophosphatidyl-D (lysoPLD) activity of ATX. ATX molecule; With this enzyme activity, it plays a fundamental role in the conversion of lysophosphatidylcholine to lysophosphatidic acid . Many studies have demonstrated the biological effects of the autotaxin-lysophosphatidic acid (ATX-LPA) signalling pathway in cancer. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown that increased ATX-LPA signalling contributes to cancer initiation and progression. Current evidence supports the role of the ATX-LPA signalling pathway in the proliferation, invasion, adhesion, and angiogenesis of cells, and is effective in cancer development and metastasis. Increased ATX expression has been reported in various cancers, such as glioblastoma, hepatocellular and thyroid carcinomas, breast, pancreatic, colon, and hematological cancers .

The ATX molecule has the feature of being a molecule that will be effective in the future, not only in the diagnosis of cancer, but also in the treatment process and to be studied extensively. in this study, we aimed to examine the diagnostic and biological behaviour relationship between serum ATX levels and colorectal cancer and to determine the cut-off value for serum ATX levels in colorectal cancer.

Serum ATX levels were compared between the patient and control groups. ATX levels were analysed in subgroups formed according to the demographic, clinical, pathological, and laboratory characteristics of the patient group.

Inclusion Criteria:

• stage 1-3 colorectal cancer
• control group included healthy volunteers who had undergone screening colonoscopy within the last month , had no pathology,

Exclusion Criteria:

• metastatic disease,
• received neoadjuvant therapy
• received systemic chemoradiotherapy
• had any known systemic inflammatory or autoimmune disease
• had a with another concurrent malignancy
• had been previously diagnosed and treated for another malignancy

The colorectal cancer patient group included clinical stage 1-3 patients of both sexes. Patients with metastatic disease, those who received neoadjuvant therapy, those who received systemic chemoradiotherapy, those who had any known systemic inflammatory or autoimmune disease, those with another concurrent malignancy, and those who had been previously diagnosed and treated for another malignancy were excluded from the study. The control group included healthy volunteers who had undergone screening colonoscopy within the last month, had no pathology, had not been diagnosed with any malignant disease before, had no known systemic inflammatory or autoimmune disease, and had not been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease.