The diagnostic value of serum Ephrin-A1 in patients with colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide, with a high incidence rate and mortality. The analysis of serum biomarkers for colorectal cancer diagnosis has attracted more and more attention because of its low cost, repeatability, and quantification. This study was aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of serum Ephrin-A1 in patients with CRC. We retrospectively analyzed CRC cases in a test cohort (121 patients and 108 controls) and validated them in a validation cohort (119 patients and 118 controls). The concentration of Ephrin-A1 in serum was detected by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the diagnostic performance of serum Ephrin-A1 was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. In the test cohort, serum Ephrin-A1 levels in patients with all-stage CRC and early-stage CRC were significantly higher than those in healthy controls. The area under the ROC curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity of all-stage CRC and early-stage CRC were 0.709 (95% CI 0.644-0.775) and 0.660 (95% CI 0.530-0.790), 48.76% and 45.00%, 81.48% and 81.48%, respectively. Similar results were observed in the validation cohort. Serum Ephrin-A1 might be served as a potential biomarker in the diagnosis of CRC.