Serum irisin levels in colorectal cancer patients.

Summary: Have you ever heard of irisin? It is a hormone that your muscles make, especially when you exercise. Scientists wanted to see if the amount of irisin in the blood is different in people who have colon cancer. They tested the blood of 53 cancer patients and 87 healthy volunteers.

They discovered that people with colon cancer had much lower levels of irisin in their blood compared to the healthy group. The cancer patients also had higher blood sugar levels. Interestingly, the irisin levels were the same whether the cancer had spread to other parts of the body or not. This means measuring irisin might one day be a useful tool or "biomarker" to help doctors study and detect colon cancer. We still need more research, but this is a very promising clue!